


Flashpoint

by Thundersnow (pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, BAMF Barry, BAMF Leonard Snart, BAMF Lisa Snart, Blow Jobs, Canon Compliant, Citizen Cold, Fix it AU, Flashpoint - Freeform, Fluff, Humour, Len is a rogue, Len is a superhero, M/M, Minor Barry Allen/Iris West, Pining, Sexual Tension, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, but coldflash is endgame, meta Len, serious spoilers, temporarily human Barry Allen, temporarily powerless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-08-18 05:25:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8150600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel/pseuds/Thundersnow
Summary: “What’s gotten into you? Are you alright?” His mother asked, placing her hand on top of Barry’s as he continued to stare at the picture of Leonard Snart on the TV.“I’m fine. But everything else has… changed,” Barry admitted and he looked from the TV to the rest of the restaurant as he made his mind up to tell his mother the truth. “And I think it probably has something to do with me being-”“-Gay,” Nora Allen interrupted and Barry chocked on his words, feeling heat rise up his neck. “It’s okay, I love you no matter what.”-At first, Barry’s new world seemed perfect: His mother and father were alive and happy and it was everything he’d ever wanted since he was eight years old. But he soon realised that the cracks he’d created in time could have deadly consequences.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Readers. Before I start: no, this isn’t the sequel to Lightning Hot that I promised would be posted before October. Anyone following my Instagram account (which is now named sour_wolfie again) might have seen that I was planning on posting the first chapter of the sequel last week but there was a sudden change of plans. I won’t go into any more detail about that now, though.
> 
> This fic is actually a collection of three different fic ideas that I’ve had over the past several months that all somehow managed to mould together perfectly. It follows directly after the season 2 finale of The Flash and so I decided last week to stop work on all my other fics so that I could get the first chapter of this out before season 3 airs. The plot is mostly based off of the Flashpoint film and so I've mostly ignored the promos for the new season.

The time stream was… dazzling. So many paths, so much potential. Sometimes Barry found it hard to keep looking straight on and not get too distracted by the snippets of possible pasts and presents. But not this time. This time Barry was completely focussed on one goal: the only goal that had ever truly mattered. He ran back to that time when Eobard Thawne had killed his mother and he threw the Reverse Flash across the room.

He'd actually done it. He'd changed the timeline. He'd saved his mother's life. Barry crouched beside her and comforted her as he imagined what the future would have in store for himself and his family now. It was something that he'd barely allowed himself to fantasize about before as it was just too painful to wake up in a world where his mother was still dead. But now the possibilities were endless.

Barry's sight slowly began to fade, blackness cementing the edges of his vision and slowly beginning to cover more and more of his sight. But it wasn't frightening… it was actually peaceful, as though he was being pulled into a quiet sleep. For a moment, everything was completely dark and noiseless. Then there was a burst of light and splashes of colour as the world remade itself. Everything was bright, so bright that Barry tried to pull away… but he couldn't. A low humming sound surrounded him, getting louder as the brightness began to sting at his eyes.

And then he woke up.

Barry's eyes flitted open at the same time that his senses picked up on the noisy room around him and he gasped as he sat upright from where his head had been leaning on a desk. His breathing was heavy but it slowly calmed down as he began to recognise where he was, Central City Picture News. He was at a desk he'd never been next to before and his eyes widened as he saw his own name written on a plaque, the words 'Head Crime Reporter' embossed underneath.

Barry blinked his eyes and then rubbed them, but the words didn't change… _huh_. The rest of the desk that he'd just been sleeping on was covered in clutter: stray papers and notebooks and a few draft articles. He looked for his phone but it wasn't among the mess on the desk, nor was it in his pocket. So, he tapped the keyboard in front of him to get the computer screen to turn on. He'd only meant to check the time and date but his muscle memory led him to typing in a password and unlocking the computer.

He frowned down at his hands, having not recognised the seemingly random collection of letters and numbers he'd just keyed in…

"Told you that you wouldn't be able to stay awake," a friendly-sounding voice announced nearby and Barry looked up to see an unfamiliar face. The man standing next to Barry was tall and lanky and he had slightly long light brown hair paired with big blue/green eyes. He was definitely attractive and his voice was soft and slightly accented. He was the kind of man that was hard to forget and so Barry was certain that he'd never talked to him before. Yet… somehow Barry could recall his name.

"Tom?" He asked slowly, unsure. The man in front of him smiled.

" _Duh_ ," he muttered and Barry couldn't quite place that accent… British, maybe? "You've been working on this article for far too long, Barry. You need to go home and get some sleep." Barry's eyes skittered to the corner of his computer where the clock lay.

"It's only 6pm," he muttered. Though, as he said it, he found himself yawning.

"Which might mean something if you hadn't been up for the past 36 hours hassling the new ARGUS director." Barry frowned and look at the article on his computer screen in front of him. It was about Amanda Waller's death… but, from what he could tell by scanning the page, the details were different. It didn't make any sense. _None_ of this made any sense. Unless…

Unless it had worked.

It had felt like a dream, one that he'd had many, _many_ times ever since he was eight years old: going back and saving his mum's life.

But this time… this time he'd actually _done it_. Barry started frantically searching through the clutter on his desk because he needed to know if it was true: he needed to know if his parents were alive.

"What are you looking for?" Tom asked with a disapproving tone.

"I need my phone." Barry answered and Tom laughed, brushing his hand over Barry's shoulder.

"Sleep deprivation really does not suit you, Barry. Top drawer." Barry flicked his eyes up at the man and back down to his desk. He pulled open the drawer and lying next to his wallet and keys was one of those large, clunky, Samsung Notes.

"Remind me why I didn't get an iPhone," he joked and Tom just frowned at him.

"Get some sleep, Barry," he muttered before leaving. Barry shrugged and unlocked the phone. He could feel his heart racing as he began to scroll though his contacts. His dad's number was there but he had died very recently and so Barry couldn't take that as confirmation that he was still alive. He kept on scrolling until he got to the letter 'M' and his mum's contact details shone back at him. Barry bit his lower lip as he clicked on her number and slowly raised the phone to his ear.

"Barry, hi," his mother's soft voice answered and Barry held back the sob that he could feel building at the back of his throat. It was so good to hear her voice again.

" _Mum_ …" he breathed out and it must have sounded a bit broken because she cooed into the phone.

"Barry, Love, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." He cleared his throat. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just a bit tired is all." He was grinning now and a bubble of laughter escaped from his lips. "It's been far too long since we talked, can I come over?" He asked and he heard his mother's light, musical, laughter through the phone.

"You were here four nights ago, Barry," she replied fondly.

"It seems like longer…"

"Well, your father and I were just about to go out for a meal. Would you like to join us?"

"Yes," he agreed immediately. "That sounds perfect. Where are we going? I'll meet you there," he said as he leaned forward to save the document on his computer and log out.

"Don't be ridiculous," she chided. "It's already getting dark out and we won't have you walking. We'll come pick you up. Are you still at work?" He made a confirmation noise. "Great, we'll be there in fifteen minutes." His mother said she loved him and hung up and Barry was left staring at his phone with what was probably a goofy-looking smile.

His parents were alive. Both of them. It felt too good to be true and he had the overwhelming urge to share the good news with someone. He scrolled back up through his contacts to find the letter 'I'. He was surprised by how many new numbers were programmed in and he wondered briefly how he knew so many people. It was probably a part of his job, though, since he was a reporter now… and wouldn't _that_ take some getting used to.

Barry's smile froze on his face as he noticed that there were only a small handful of people on his phone under the letter I and none of them were Iris. That had to be a mistake. He sat up a little straighter and looked over the top of his computer for Iris' desk. But, once he found it, he could tell right away without reading the plaque that it wasn't his friend's anymore. She was much too neat to have a desk that messy and there was far too much basketball memorabilia for Iris' liking.

He took another look through his contacts, this time paying closer attention to every name on the list hoping that he would see her under a nickname or something. But no such luck. And she wasn't the only name that was missing, he realised. A large majority of the people on his old contacts list were no longer there: no Joe or Wally, Caitlin or Cisco, Oliver or Felicity… they were all gone from his phonebook.

Barry couldn't dwell on that though, because only a moment later he heard the door open and looked over to see his mum and dad enter the large room. He stood up instantly and pocketed his phone, keys and wallet before rushing over to his parents. Barry pulled them both into a hug and they laughed.

"What's this for, Slugger?" His father asked and Barry blinked the tears away from his eyes before pulling back.

"He's sleep deprived," Tom called out to his parents, from where he was lounging back on a desk with a mischievous smile on his face, before Barry could answer and his mother looked at him sternly.

"Again, Barry? You really need to look after yourself a little better. I suppose you haven't eaten anything all day either?" She asked and Barry wasn't sure, but he _was_ hungry. He just smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"How about we change that?" Barry brushed the question off and his mother shook her head slightly. She looked back over to Tom who was still lounging about and smiled.

"It's lovely to see you again, Tom," she said brightly.

"And you, Mrs. Allen."

"It's good to know that _someone_ is looking out for my boy," she muttered quietly with another disapproving look at Barry before they left. They ended up going to an Italian restaurant not too far away. The room was splashed in warm colours making it feel inviting and comfy, but the music was playing a little bit loud, which was perhaps to improve the atmosphere since there weren't many customers sitting at tables.

Barry ordered a spicy chicken pizza and his parents both got carbonara. They talked lightly throughout the meal and Barry found himself trying to deflect the questions away from himself as he realised that he couldn't really answer any of them: he didn't _know_ how his job had been lately or if he'd met anyone interesting at the work party the other night, he didn't know what car he was looking at buying or even what the latest sports scores were.

He wasn't very good at avoiding the questions but neither of his parent's brought that up and they just went along with it, telling him about the holiday they were planning and the nice young family who had moved in next door. But the food was good and he was happy enough to listen to everything his parents had to say, fascinated about the happy life they were living together. Things were different in this timeline and Barry had no idea about his current life or friends, but all of his confusion was worth it to see his mum and dad laugh so carelessly again.

They were just about to order desert when his dad's pager started buzzing. Both of his parents looked slightly saddened when his dad was called away to visit a patient and Barry pulled him into a hug before he left the restaurant. Henry Allen laughed at his son and promised to be back by the time they finished their deserts.

"So, Barry, how about we get ourselves a couple of chocolate cakes?" His mother whispered as though she was planning something fiendish. Barry laughed at her and agreed so she called over the waitress. As Nora Allen ordered their deserts Barry's eyes were drawn to the TV in the corner of the room, the sound wasn't on but the subtitles were and so Barry had no problem understanding the newscaster.

" _This week we will be celebrating the two year anniversary of when Citizen Cold first showed up in Central City."_ A picture of Leonard Snart dressed in his Captain Cold gear appeared on the screen and Barry gawped at the TV as his heart thumped a little faster with pride. _"He has been capturing metahumans and keeping our streets safer for 726 days and I, for one, am thrilled that-"_

"Barry? What's gotten into you? Are you alright?" His mother asked, placing her hand on top of Barry's as he continued to stare at the picture of Leonard Snart on the TV.

"I'm fine," he murmured almost breathlessly as his lips twisted up into a small, happy, smile. "But everything else has… changed," Barry admitted and he looked from the TV to the rest of the restaurant as he made his mind up to tell his mother the truth. The place was nearly empty and the music was loud enough that no one who _was_ here would be able to hear what he was about to say anyway. "And I think it probably has something to do with me being-"

"-Gay," Nora Allen interrupted and Barry chocked on his words.

"What? No," he denied, feeling heat rise up his neck.

"It's okay," Nora said with a soft and warm smile. "I love you no matter what."

"Mum, it's not that," he said one last time and then cleared his throat as he started again. "I'm the Flash," he said quietly and his mother frowned at him.

"What's… _the Flash_?"

"You know… the Flash: fastest man alive, fights crime, very famous superhero…" Barry announced but the blank look remained on his mother's face. Eventually she smiled and laughed fondly before taking a sip of her drink.

"I really don't understand your jokes sometimes, Barry," she replied and Barry shook his head.

"It's not a-" he started but cut himself off. Did the Flash not exist in this reality? He attempted to vibrate his fist under the table but he could tell instantly that it wasn't working. Barry swallowed thickly and tried to smile despite the clenching in his stomach. "It doesn't matter."

[] [] []

Barry wasn't a superhero anymore. After his dad had come back to the restaurant and dropped Barry off at an apartment, he had spent several hours trying to access the speed force. He eventually passed out on his lumpy sofa from exhaustion and woke up the next morning to the shrill sound of his alarm with a crick in his neck. Barry wasn't used to feeling like this… his superhealing made it possible for him to stay up for days without feeling this run-down or exhausted; and it also let him heal from any slight muscle aches within only a few minutes. Being powerless made him feel… _pathetic_.

As he rolled his neck and yawned, Barry made the decision to skip work today. He called in sick before quickly grabbing a handful of cereal and collapsing into his dark bedroom – at least this timeline's version of him also understood the importance of black-out blinds.

When he woke up several hours later he was still tired but it was a more manageable tiredness. He chugged a couple of cups of coffee and then pigged out on sausages and bacon. But he ended up making _far_ too much, not used to having a regular metabolism again. After stuffing his face with as much food as he could eat, Barry put the rest in containers in the fridge and collapsed onto the sofa.

He wondered what else had changed in this timeline and decided to turn on the news to check. He didn't expect to get an answer to his question quite so soon, though. Iris West beamed back at him from his TV as she announced the results of the football fixtures. Barry felt a twist in his gut as he stared at his almost-girlfriend. She wasn't in his phone, she didn't know him in this reality… but he refused to give up on her.

Barry grabbed his coat and marched out of the door. He'd thankfully memorised most of Central City due to running around it every night as the Flash for the past two years… so, even though he was now living in a part of town that he rarely went to before, he was easily able to find his way to the news station.

The entrance to the building was framed with large ceiling-high windows that made the foyer beyond seem spacious and modern. He pushed through the revolving glass door and walked right up to the front desk where a woman with platinum blonde hair was sitting. Her lips were a subtle red and when she smiled up at Barry she revealed set of unnaturally whitened teeth.

"Hi, I need to see Iris West," he announced and the woman looked down at her computer for a moment, typing something into a database, before raising her head to look back at Barry.

"I'm sorry, do you mean Iris West-Williams?" She replied and Barry's stomach sank.

"West-Wil… I…" Barry stuttered. Iris was married in this universe? The realisation felt like a knife to his gut. He had been _so close_ to being with her and now she was slipping through his fingers once more.

"What are you doing here?" Said an angry voice that Barry instantly recognised. He turned around and saw Joe standing a few feet behind him and glaring in Barry's direction.

"Joe…" Barry breathed out and frowned as his foster-father's glare only increased.

"I thought I told you not to call me that, anymore. I'm Detective West to you now, Boy," Joe muttered and took a step forward, his voice going quiet and menacing. "And I don't know why you're here to see my daughter but you better have a damn good reason because I am not going to let you do to her what you did to me."

"What? I…" Barry faltered, confused by Joe's angry reaction to seeing him and wondering how on earth he could have hurt his foster father this badly.

" _Leave_. Before I find a reason to arrest you," Joe warned quietly and Barry stumbled away from him, rushing out of the building. He cast one last look back at the man that he thought of as a father and felt like he was going to throw up. This day just couldn't seem to get any worse.

Barry wandered around Central City for a little while, feeling like his whole world was collapsing. He ended up ringing his mum and dad to talk but they were both too busy with their jobs and promised to ring him back once work had ended. And those promises were the only things that kept him going and stopped him from crumpling into a ball on the floor.

As he wandered, though, he couldn't help but wonder what he could have done to Joe to make him this angry. Barry couldn't remember the last time that he'd seen him like this and it was gut-wrenching to think that he himself was behind that pain. In a way, Barry didn't want to know what he had done to hurt Joe… but he knew that he couldn't just ignore the problem. Whatever had happened, Barry knew that he had to make it better. He didn't want to live in a reality where Joe was angry with him.

So, after a little bit of soul-searching, Barry found his way to an internet café. He would have gone home but there was something about that apartment that just made him feel sad, cold and alone, so the longer he was away from it the better. He paid for two hours of internet and logged into one of the computers after ordering a cup of coffee.

He tapped on the table lightly for a few seconds as he decided where to start. Learning about himself would be a good idea but it didn't feel as pressing of an issue as figuring out how he had wronged Joe. So that was where he started. Barry typed his and Joe's names into Google and hoped for some helpful results. He clicked on the first link and took his first sip of his coffee as he waited for the page to load.

It tasted… _okay_. But it was definitely not in the same league as Jitters' coffee. He frowned into his mug as the taste lingered on his tongue: the blend was a little bit bitterer than he was used to and so he stood up to grab another few packets of sugar. He dumped the first one into the cup and took another sip. Much better.

Now that he was happier with his coffee, he looked back up at the computer screen and prepared himself for whatever it was he was about to read. He skimmed the page for information and frowned, it was an article from Central City Picture News that he had apparently written and quoted Joe as a source… but it was about the disappearance of three teenage girls and was probably a very high-profile case… Joe would have never risked the investigation by giving Barry this information.

He clicked off of that link and searched through the next few, finding no more clues as to why Joe would be angry with him. That was, until he saw a news article titled " _Captain Joe West Demoted after Recent Information Leak_ " and Barry still didn't know the specifics of what had happened but he got the gist of it: in this timeline Joe had made police captain already and Barry had used him to get information about the case, which he had then printed and got Joe demoted.

He hadn't even bothered to keep Joe's name confidential, printing it for the world to see, obviously caring more about furthering his own career than how it would hurt Joe's. Barry honestly felt sick at the thought of it.

He logged out of the computer quickly, feeling too emotionally and physically exhausted to read any more. He needed to find a way to make this up to Joe but he honestly didn't know how it was possible.

Barry couldn't stomach his drink anymore either and so he placed the cup back on the counter before exiting the café and starting the long walk back to his apartment. It was a cloudy and dark day and Barry zipped his jacket up, snuggling into the warmth of it as he walked.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't really notice where he was going, automatically taking a shortcut that led him down a dark alleyway. Normally it wouldn't matter where he went because no one could attack him when he was travelling at Flash speed, but his lowly human waddle was much less intimidating to muggers, which he realised once someone stalked up behind him with a gun.

Barry felt the barrel press against the back of his head and he froze, catching a glimpse of the guy in the reflection of one of the windows in the alley way. He was tall and was wearing a grey hoodie, the hood of which was pulled down to obscure his face. The gun was clearly visible in the reflection, a small caliber pistol.

"Don't make any sudden movements," the guy muttered. "Just hand me your phone and wallet and I'll let you walk away." Barry felt as though he was in a dream: he knew that he should be scared, but he'd been through so much worse than having a gun pointed at him that this didn't really affect him anymore. Part of him wanted to do something stupid like try to get the gun away from the mugger, but the less reckless side of his brain won over.

"Okay, okay, here," he spoke slowly and calmly as he slowly reached into his pocket to get his wallet. He'd just wrapped his hand around the leather material when the guy grunted and appeared to be thrown back. Barry spun around in time to see the guy catch himself from his stumble, grab his now-bleeding nose with his free hand, and pull the trigger of the gun.

Barry flinched back but the gun just made a clicking sound and nothing else happened. The mugger looked from Barry to the gun in surprise as he continued to press the trigger with nothing to show for it. Barry didn't have time to react to this before someone else was appearing in the alleyway as though from thin air: a man dressed in a very familiar-looking suit of armour.

 _Ray_.

"You'll have trouble getting that to work without these," Ray said, his voice heavily disguised by something in the Atom suit, as he opened his palm and a couple of small pieces of metal clattered to the floor. The mugger dropped the gun and stumbled back before turning to run away. But Ray was too quick, he pounced on the mugger and slammed him against the brick wall so heavily that it made Barry wince.

Barry took a few frightened steps away as the Atom continued to pound on the mugger, who's hood had now fallen back revealing a young face that didn't appear to be much older than fifteen.

"Stop," Barry said, finally regaining his faculties. Ray didn't listen. He drew back his hand and went to punch the, now unconscious, boy in the face. Barry leaped forward to grab his arm and prevent it. "Stop!" He shouted this time. But the Atom just threw him off with such force that Barry stumbled and fell to the hard ground. " _Ray_!" He stage-whispered in hope of getting through to his friend.

And it seemed to work. Ray froze and turned around quickly to face Barry, dropping the teen in the process. He marched towards Barry and pulled him up by the scruff of his jacket before flying up high into the air. Ray flew them up onto the nearest roof in seconds and then threw Barry to the floor.

"Who are you?" He demanded and Barry scrambled so that he was standing up again. "I said who the _hell_ are you?" Ray raised him arm and looked like he was about to start throwing punches so Barry raised his hands in self-defence.

"Ray, wait!" He shouted. "You have to remember. It's me! It's Barry. Barry Allen!" Ray grabbed Barry again and pulled him closer threateningly. " _Ray_!"

"Ray is dead. I watched him die," the Atom cried. "And he didn't know any Barry Allen, definitely not well enough to tell him about the Atom suit."

"Wait. What?" Barry stumbled and the person in the Atom suit dropped him to the floor one last time.

"I don't know who you are, Barry Allen, but you better stay away from me," they demanded before flying away and leaving Barry stranded on the roof wondering who the hell had been wearing Ray's suit.

[] [] []

It had taken Barry a while but he eventually managed to wake someone up in the apartment building beneath him so that he could get off of the roof, though it had cost him all the money he'd had in his wallet. He went straight to bed when he got home. But when he woke up the next morning everything was still messed up and he was slowly starting to feel empty.

His friends, _all of them_ , they either hated him or had no idea who he was. He tried going to STAR Labs to talk to Cisco but they wouldn't let a reporter in past the doors, never mind talk to the guy who was now apparently the head of the company. He hadn't tried to talk to Caitlin yet but he assumed that he would get similar results going to Mercury Labs.

Barry hoped that they were doing well. He hoped that they were happy and safe. After being denied entry at STAR Labs, Barry trudged back to his apartment slowly (this time avoiding alleyways). He just wished he could go home and lounge on the sofa with Joe and Iris like he used to.

He missed them.

He was feeling pretty low about himself as he walked to the place that he was now supposed to think of as home. The sky was darkening and cold and Barry hugged himself closer in his thick coat. He stared down at the pavement as he trudged so his eyes almost missed the flash of lightning ahead of him. His head shot up as he searched for the source. It had to have been a speedster.

Barry quickened his steps and hurried to the end of the road. He looked left and right but he didn't see any signs of a metahuman in either direction. After a moment he heard screaming coming from his right and so he took off that way, towards the high street. As he got closer he saw people running away and so he knew that he must be heading in the right direction.

Barry rounded the corner and saw the two figures dressed in yellow tri-polymer suits. He recognised one of them instantly as the Reverse Flash but he didn't get a good enough glimpse of the second speedster to see who it was. They appeared to be fighting one another.

Barry slowly inched towards the two speedsters, not being able to tell which of them was winning said fight. After a moment the Reverse Flash threw the other speedster into a wall and Barry got his first proper look at him: he was dark skinned with short dark hair and Barry frowned because he looked very familiar. But he didn't really get the time to think about it before he saw the Reverse Flash slowly walking over to the injured speedster on the ground.

"No, stop!" Barry shouted, reacting without thinking. He moved forward quickly but Thawne turned to face Barry and a wide smile spread across the villain's lips.

"You enjoying the new timeline?" Thawne laughed and Barry barely had time to process the comment before the Reverse Flash was picking up the new speedster and throwing him in Barry's direction.

Before Barry could dodge out of the way there was a strong arm wrapping around his waist and pulling him back behind a nearby wall. Barry yelped a little bit in surprise and watched the speedster land on his feet in the exact spot where Barry had been standing. The speedster didn't stop to look at them before rushing back at Thawne again. After a second, Barry looked up into the face of his saviour.

"Why don't you leave the heroics to the guys with superpowers, Kid," Leonard Snart drawled and Barry just blinked at him in shock.

"Th-thank you," he stumbled as he tried to act normal and not like his incredibly attractive nemesis-turned-superhero had just saved him from what was likely to have been a lot of pain. Leonard seemed to realise that he was still holding Barry against his body so he freed him and took a step back before smirking.

"No problem, Kid. Just try to keep your head cool next time."

Barry couldn't help his grin after that. Puns didn't generally fall under his type of humour but there was something about Snart that made Barry smile. And it was comforting to know that there was one person he knew from his old life that hadn't seemed to change. Barry realised how stupid that sounded, comparing Snart-the-thief to Snart-the-superhero and saying that they were the same. But deep down Barry had always known that Leonard only needed a push in the right direction.

Barry opened his mouth to say something but then there was a loud bang right outside of the alleyway and he ended up flinching. Leonard gave Barry a gentle push towards the other end of the alley and told him to run, which Barry did without hesitation. When he got onto the far street he turned around, expecting Cold to be following, but no one was there.

The flashes of lightning subsided at the other end of the alley and the shouts and bangs fell silent. Barry slowly walked back through the alleyway to the other road but, when he got there and peered around the wall, he found that both of the speedsters and Leonard Snart had left.

[] [] []

Barry tried to forget about his run-in with the Reverse Flash the next day because, without his superspeed or superhealing, he was all too human now. He wanted to help right the things that went wrong in this timeline but without his powers he didn't have any chance. So Barry did the only thing that he could: he went to work.

He'd never really been much of a writer (even if it had always been something that he'd dreamt of doing) but he just had to hope that muscle memory kicked in for this particular skill as it had done for other things in his new life.

He found the article he'd had opened on his computer when he first woke up in this reality and realised that it was already finished and so he breathed a sigh of relief over that. But, when reading through that and some of the other drafts he had, he realised pretty quickly that being a crime reporter wasn't all that different than when he'd had to write reports for his job as a CSI. The articles were a lot less scientific and fluffed up with much more circumstantial evidence, displaying opinions instead of facts, but the base of them were the same.

After a bit of morning research Barry was feeling much less worried about his new job as Head Crime Reporter and so he left to get a coffee from Jitters. It was 1pm Saturday and so the coffee shop was pretty busy but he eventually was able to order a nice cup of coffee (no Flashes anymore though he did see an ' _Iced_ Tea' on the menu that appeared to be styled after Citizen Cold. Barry couldn't help the smile that showed on his face at the thought of that).

He planned to just go directly back to work and drink his coffee on the way, but as he turned he noticed a familiar face sitting alone on a table near the window. Barry's heart twinged. He _knew_ that the outcome of what he was about to do would be bad, he knew that she was married in this timeline … but Barry still held out hope that maybe the name change could be for a different reason, or maybe she and her husband were separated.

Thinking about it, he knew that it was horrible to hope that she was having marital issues… but this was _Iris_! They were meant to be together. Which was why he found his feet carrying him to her table.

"Iris?" He asked slowly and she looked up at him with a polite smile, but otherwise her expression was entirely blank as though she was looking at a complete stranger. But after a second she frowned and there seemed to be some sort of recognition in her eyes.

"Hi, yes. You look really familiar; I've seen you before, haven't I?" She asked and Barry grinned as a knot in his stomach slowly untwisted.

"We, er… actually, we went to school together."

"Oh! Garry, right?"

"Uh, _B_ arry," he corrected her and she nodded.

"Barry? Right!" She muttered but then she seemed to realise something. "Wait. Not, Barry _Allen_?" Iris said, suddenly turning angry when Barry didn't deny it. "You almost got my dad fired!" She accused in a hushed furious tone and Barry rubbed at the back of his neck, a nervous trait that he had picked up. Barry still didn't know enough about what had happened to talk about this but he just really wanted Iris to not be mad at him.

"I didn't mean to…" he defended himself weakly, because it was the only think he could think to say, and Iris laughed hauntingly.

" _Didn't mean to_? You call him up saying that you're finding it difficult to shut off all of the horrors of the crimes you're writing about and trick him into giving up details on the case! He thought he was just having a drink with his friend's son, but you were just using him to get yourself a promotion! You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I… I'm sorry," Barry said pathetically. He couldn't believe that any version of himself would actually _do_ that. He blinked uselessly at Iris as he tried to think of a way to convey just how disappointed in himself he was. Iris' eyes left Barry as the door opened behind him and then she stood up.

"Sorry doesn't cut it," she muttered and then took a deep breath as though to push all of the anger out of her body. Only a second later a little girl with light brown skin and big brunette curls ran up to her.

"Mommy!" The girl shouted and Barry's eyes widened in what was probably comical if it wasn't for the feeling of his heart being ripped out of his chest. Iris picked the girl up easily and started walking away from Barry without as much as a glance his way.

"How is my little angel?" She asked the girl who looked to be about four years old.

"Awesome! Daddy took me out to lunch and we had chicken wings and I told him about the fire drill we had at school yesterday and then I ate _so much_ ice-cream!" The little girl cooed and Iris looked over at a man who was waiting by the doors with a warm smile. When she got close enough to him she placed a kiss to his cheek.

"Mint chocolate chip?" She asked as she turned back to her daughter and the girl nodded energetically. The man opened the door and the young family walked outside, leaving Barry feeling empty and alone. He dumped his cup in the bin on his way out of the shop, no longer feeling up to it.

Barry ambled back to his job in a haze, but all he wanted to do was wrap up in a blanket and figure a way to make this universe more liveable. The only thing keeping him going at this point was remembering how happy his parents had looked the other night at dinner. Everything else was fixable, he told himself. _So what_ if he and Iris couldn't be together; that wasn't the end of the world. He had loved Iris, but she wasn't the only person that he had _ever_ loved. No, he'd gotten over her once before, he knew that he could do it again.

And Barry _could_ deal with not being Iris' boyfriend… just so long as he could still be her _friend._ He needed to find a way to make everything right between him and Joe. Barry walked up to his desk on autopilot as his mind remained occupied with thoughts of Iris: he hoped that she was happy. She _seemed_ to be happy.

Barry was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that there was anyone sitting at his desk until he was only a few feet away. Leonard Snart smirked up at him as he leant back on Barry's chair with his feet up on Barry's desk. Snart was wearing a soft-looking baggy green jumper with a pair of dark grey jeans and Barry tried to remember if he had ever seen the guy dressed in any colour but black – except from his customary blue parker, that is - or if this was the first time.

"What are you doing here?" He asked and Snart shrugged, sitting up before Barry had time to think how rude that had sounded.

"Just checking that you hadn't got yourself killed yet," he drawled. "I trust your crime-fighting days are over?" He raised his eyebrow and Barry deflected the question with his own.

"How did you know where to find me?" He asked and Snart stood up and took something out of his back pocket which he handed to Barry. Barry took it and frowned down at the laminated card in his hands: a press badge with Barry's picture and name printed on it.

"You dropped it in the alleyway," he elaborated and Barry nodded before shoving the ID back into his pocket.

"Thanks," he mumbled, not quite sure what else to say, and Snart tipped his head in a slight nod. He looked at Barry as though he wanted to say something but then decided on another topic instead.

"So, Bartholomew? Are your parents religious?" He inquired nonchalantly as his eyes fluttered across Barry's desk and finally landed back on Barry's face.

"Not especially," Barry shrugged and blushed. "Just terrible at picking names, I guess." He laughed and rubbed at the nape of his neck in embarrassment. Leonard shrugged and smiled, taking a small step forward.

"I like unusual names," He admitted slowly. "It's people with normal names that I try to avoid: they're the shady ones, real hot-heads."

"Oh, really?" Barry muttered with a smile and Leonard leaned in close to him; so close that, when he started whispering, his breath brushed against Barry's cheek.

" _Really_ ," he drawled as though it was a secret. "Never trust anyone named Keith."

"I'll keep that in mind," Barry breathed out, trying to ignore the Goosebumps that had arisen on his skin, as Leonard retreated back with a smirk on his lips.

"I'll be seeing you, Kid," Snart eventually said and started to manoeuvre around him.

"Barry," he spoke up. "Call me Barry." It was odd to hear Snart call him 'Kid' and he really didn't want to be thought of as _Bartholomew_.

"Len," Snart introduced himself with a swift nod and Barry smiled back at him. Len turned to leave again but Barry spoke up one last time to stop him, but a little quieter now so that no one around them would be able to hear unless they were purposefully listening in.

"Did you stop Thawne?" He asked, partially because he wanted to know the answer and partially because this was the most normal he had felt ever since he'd entered this reality, and Len's face went blank.

"Who's Thawne?" Len questioned and Barry was surprised by how convincing that was; if he didn't already know that Len was Citizen Cold then he might have been fooled.

"Eobard Thawne," Barry elaborated. "The Reverse Flash."

"It's not my job to stop anybody," he replied with a shrug and Barry frowned but refused to give up.

"So you didn't 'stick him in _the_ _cooler'_?" Barry asked, using a pun that he had once heard the other-timeline Snart shout. But this Snart just looked confused.

"I don't know what you're getting at here?" He asked and so Barry looked around them quickly before he grabbed Len's arm and toed him outside. Once he was happy that there was no one around, he turned back to the superhero.

"I know that you're Citizen Cold," he whispered and there was a second where neither of them said anything before Leonard's face slowly broke out in a wide smile and he laughed. And it _almost_ sounded genuine, but Barry knew that it couldn't be.

"I guess comparing people to superheroes is the new take on the 'you must be an angel' pickup line," Len drawled after a moment and Barry shook his head.

"I already know, there's no point in denying it," he continued to insist.

"Really?" Len drawled, his smirk still on place even though it no longer reached his eyes. "And what makes you so sure that I'm some hero?"

"Because…" Barry let his sentence fade off. _How could he possibly explain what he knew?_ Len raised his eyebrow as he waited for an answer and Barry just couldn't take keeping this a secret any longer. "Because I'm from a different timeline!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed but I put a _lot_ of references in this first chapter... some direct quotes from a variety of shows and films, others are more subtle. What can I say? I'm just a big geek. Anyway, bravo on you for actually managing to get through this chapter without giving up on me... hopefully you don't think it's too much of a mess? I would love if you left me a comment to let me know your initial thoughts :)
> 
> PS. I'll try to post chapter 2 before season 3 starts next week (but these are much bigger chapters than I am used to writing so bare with me if I'm a little bit late)


	2. Chapter 2

Len took an audible deep breath and squinted his eyes at Barry. The kid sounded so serious but what he was saying was insane… right? A different timeline would mean that time travel was possible but that just couldn't be true.

Barry was looking over at him with big, round, green eyes just like he had done when Len had pulled him out of the Reverse Flash's way yesterday. He really was gorgeous. His brown hair was soft-looking and the splatter of moles and freckles across his cheeks were enticing. From far away the darkness under his eyes could be mistaken as marks of age, but this close Len could tell that it was from tiredness. The guy was much younger than his old, kind, eyes let on.

The younger man started to fidget as Len remained silent.

"Are you not going to say anything?" He eventually asked and Len wasn't sure how to respond. He'd come to Barry's work today to return the badge he'd found on the floor, yes. But he could have just left that on his desk once he realised that Barry wasn't there. Instead he had asked the woman who was humming to herself a couple of desks away, how long it would be until Barry returned and he settled in for the short wait.

There was something about Len's brief encounter with the boy yesterday that made him want to see Barry again, and if he hadn't found the press badge on the ground then he probably would have found another way to meet him… it just might have taken a little bit longer. So he already liked Barry, but this was just… impossible.

"I'm just trying to figure out if you're sarcastic, lying, or insane," Len remarked but then inwardly winced: Barry _had_ tried to stop the Reverse Flash yesterday without so much as a knife at hand, after all, and now with this nonsense about time travel… it actually did seem possible that the kid had a mental illness. In which case, Len regretted his poor choice of words.

"I'm not insane and I'm telling the truth," Barry insisted and Len turned his head slightly and averted his eyes. He didn't know what it was about Barry that had drawn Len here: maybe it was his looks, maybe it was the way he had fearlessly confronted the Reverse Flash when everyone else would have run the other way without caring if a stranger got hurt. But whatever it was, Len knew that he needed to avoid this kid from now on.

It didn't matter if he was telling the truth about time travel or not, which Len didn't believe for a second, because Barry knew that Len was Citizen Cold. And that information was dangerous; _especially_ for a reporter. He didn't think that Barry had any evidence, he'd probably just seen Wally whisk himself and Thawne away yesterday after they'd caught the evil speedster and put two and two together, but he had to make sure it stayed that way.

"I think I should leave," Snart slowly and made to step around Barry, but the younger man got in his way.

"What? You have no trouble running around with speedsters but you refuse to believe in time travel?" Barry laughed, but it sounded a little bit frantic, and Len paused but shook his head. "Is it really that different?" Len tried to think of a rebuff but the younger man had him there. Two years ago he'd thought that someone running at the speed of sound was impossible so who's to say that other unbelievable concepts, like time travel for instance, weren't also possible.

And if it _was_ possible, then would that mean that he and Barry were close in the other timeline? Was that how Barry knew Len's secret identity? If the other Len had trusted Barry enough to tell him the truth then maybe he didn't have to avoid the boy after all. But there was just one thing he didn't understand.

"Tell me," Len drawled, finally meeting Barry's eyes again. "If you're from a different timeline then how did you get _here_?" He asked.

"I… I went back in time and changed the past," he admitted and Len rolled his eyes because that was fairly obvious.

"So, what? You have a DeLorean stashed in a warehouse somewhere?" Len's words were dripping with sarcasm during that last comment but he really was hoping that Barry could give him some evidence that he was telling the truth. Anything would do, really.

But Barry seemed to wear his emotions on his sleeve, clear for the whole world to see, and his eyes shone with hope at Len's question before slowly fading. Len knew that whatever Barry was about to tell him would sound, and quite possibly _be_ , impossible.

"Actually… I ran here," Barry muttered and Len squinted his eyes at the kid. "I'm a speedster."

"Really…? Prove it," Len drawled. "Do something _fast_ ," he goaded and Barry scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I _was_ a speedster," he corrected. "I lost access to the speed force once I came here," Barry elaborated, waving his hand around to indicate the world around them.

"How convenient," Len muttered and Barry frowned down at his shoes.

"Trust me, it's not," he mumbled under his breath. Len took a step sideways to get around Barry and the kid's head snapped up to stare at him with desperate eyes.

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Len announced. "But either way, I really do have to shoot off." Len inwardly cursed himself for the pun. He'd been putting on the persona of Citizen Cold for so long that it had started to bleed into his normal life: most of the time he made puns without even realising and it didn't usually matter when the odd cold pun slipped into his everyday language, but Barry already suspected him as being Citizen Cold so any slip-up around him might only add to his theory.

Len didn't actually have anywhere he needed to be right now: his former-job as an expert thief meant that he was set for life, for _several_ lifetimes actually, so he'd bought a fairly successful bar and went in to help out the staff whenever he felt like it. But he did want to avoid Barry and so he decided he might as well do some inventory.

"My name was the Flash," Barry insisted and Len looked back at him momentarily. "That's why Thawne calls himself the Reverse Flash. Cold, you have to believe me," he pleaded. But a hard life had made Len very untrusting in nature. Barry knew his identity and his explanation for why was just impossible. He had no evidence to back it up and so Len couldn't believe him. He just _couldn't_.

And yet, he wanted to. Len turned and continued to walk away from Barry without another word, but he was going through the entire encounter second by second in his head. Barry had certainly seemed sincere, if it was all a lie then he was a damn good actor. Len pulled his helmet over his head and jumped onto his bike, but instead of heading to his bar he headed to STAR Labs.

Yesterday's ' _chance'_ meeting with the Reverse Flash had actually been planned for several weeks. Len was there in civilian clothing so that the villain wouldn't recognise him, meaning that Team Cold (Cisco's name for them, Len had initially hated it but it'd grown on him over the years) had the upper hand.

Last year Len had modified the cold gun to create a cold field in order to slow down the Reverse Flash. And that gave Cisco an idea to create four cold devices that would amplify the cold field and make it more powerful and more focussed. They had finally finished testing them a few days ago and so it was simply a matter of waiting until the Reverse Flash showed up again.

When he did yesterday, Len hadn't had much time to lay out the trap. He placed the four devices in a large square on the street and then waited on the side lines for Wally to lure the Reverse Flash to the right place. Once the two speedsters showed up Len subtly helped to clear all the civilians from the street, so that they wouldn't get caught in the cold field, as Wally kept the evil speedster occupied. But Wally wasn't doing so well. Len was just about to step in when Barry shouted out.

Len had swiftly pulled the kid out of the way and Wally recovered quickly enough to tempt the Reverse Flash into position. Len had given Barry a push in the opposite direction and returned to the scene just as Wally muttered " _now_!" into the comms unit. Len flicked the switch on his cold gun to activate the cold field trap and it slowed the Reverse Flash down considerably but he was still, very slowly, moving.

They hadn't managed to get all of the issues worked out with the cold devices in time but the team were aware of them already: the main one being that the cold field had been intensified so much that it now slowed down and separated a blast from the cold gun.

So, when Len rounded the corner and fired his gun at the speedster, Wally had to move one of the cold devices out of place to deactivate the cold field just in time to let the cold substance from his gun enter. But, Wally had to be careful not to deactivate the cold field too soon that it would give the Reverse Flash enough time to escape the trap before he could get hit by the blast.

Luckily, their timing had been perfect and Len was able to injure the Reverse Flash enough that they were _finally_ able to catch him. Wally swooped him up and took him to the lock-up in STAR Labs. And it was there, in the cell, that the Reverse Flash had torn off his mask and revealed his identity for the first time. He'd called himself Eobard Thawne but Cisco hadn't been able to find anyone with that name in any Central City database so they had assumed it had been just another alias.

But, even if it had been, how had Barry Allen known that name? Sure, reporters were notorious for finding out secrets… but how was it possible that he could find out the name of the Reverse Flash when the superheroes themselves hadn't even known until yesterday? Could Barry have really been telling Len the truth?

He didn't know what to think. But he knew where to go to get answers. Len made his way to STAR Labs, parking his bike in the employee car park because Cisco had given him an ID despite the fact that he didn't physically work there. He went around the building to the back entrance and then made his way to the cells in the particle accelerator. This is where they were holding the Reverse Flash, with the police's knowledge that is, until after the prison had finished building a cell good enough to hold a speedster.

Cisco had made it so only Len, Wally, and a select few members of the CCPD could access the cells without Cisco being present. Not that anyone else would try to get in since everyone else was under the impression that the particle accelerator was simply a botched experiment that had failed the health and safety inspection after the explosion. It was just safer that way.

Len made his way over to Thawne's cell, he would have stopped to put on his Citizen Cold costume first but there was no point: Thawne had known his and Cisco's faces since the first day they met him. The metahuman was sitting on the floor and when Len approached he raised his head to grin at him.

"Let me guess… it's time for my sponge-bath?" The speedster muttered as Len made no move to say anything. Len crossed his arms and remained silent. Eventually Thawne sighed and stood up.

"Why the _Reverse Flash_?" Len eventually asked and Thawne smirked.

"Why _Citizen Cold_?" He countered with and Len shrugged.

"I asked first," he said slowly, his voice hardened. Thawne raised an eyebrow at him and silence spread through the room for a moment.

"What's with the sudden interest, Cold?"

"Colour me curious," he drawled. A year of dealing with the speedster showed that the guy really liked the sound of his own voice. All Len had to do was wait long enough for the man to start ranting again.

"There was a man once… not all too different than the _Lightning_ ," Thawne said Wally's alias with a smirk as though it was hilarious. Len schooled his features to keep his face carefully blank as Thawne elaborated. "Another speedster; this one called himself the Flash." Thawne paused, seemingly caught up in his memories.

"If that were true, then how come I've never heard of this… Flash?" He prompted and Thawne shook his head.

"Because I won," he gloated. "And what's ironic is… I didn't even have to do anything. All the time and effort that I put into stopping him… when all I really had to do was sit back and let him self-destruct. _Some hero_ ," he scoffed, his eyes were dark with anger and he was scowling as though the simple thought of the Flash made him nauseous. "He wasn't even careful, he shattered the timeline like a bullet through a windscreen; set the lives of the people closest to him on a broken path like some amateur… and all to save one woman."

Thawne seemed to have forgotten he was talking to Len, instead ranting to himself and glaring at the wall of his cell. Eventually he quietened and his eyes made contact with Len's again.

"Your turn," Thawne smiled and Len shrugged and walked away.

"I wasn't the one who chose it," he said over his shoulder.

"Ah, do tell Cisco 'hi' from me," he called before Len made it out of the room and Len refused to let himself tense up. He didn't like that Thawne knew who they were. Len deliberated for a moment. Everything that Barry had said matched what Thawne had just told him… but they could have arranged that? Maybe they were working together? This could be just some elaborate plan.

That thought didn't sit right with Len, though. He didn't know Barry but it seemed hard to believe that he could be working with a villain. He was just too… bright. The guy _exuded_ kindness and happiness. Len liked to believe he was a pretty good judge of character and, so far, it seemed very unlikely to him that Barry would be working with the Reverse Flash.

[] [] []

After Len left the Reverse Flash's cell, he sat in Team Cold's control room for a while. He was still inside the particle accelerator and so he was safely out of all of the employees' ways. He liked to come here some times to think, it was quiet and calming: one of the only places in Central where he could allow himself to get lost in his thoughts for a little while. The other place was by his sister's side… but that wasn't an option right now.

The talk with Thawne had been brief but it raised a lot of questions and Len knew that he needed to speak with Barry again… the chances of finding him still at work seemed unlikely (plus, this conversation was much better done in private), so there was only one person who he could turn to. Snart made his way out of the particle accelerator and up through the elevator to find the offices. There was one person here who had found out that he was Citizen Cold, a person who they counted as an honorary member of Team Cold and who even occasionally helped them to track down metahumans.

Len walked to Hartley Rathaway's office, another lead scientist at STAR Labs, and knocked on the door. Hartley shouted for him to come in so Len slipped through the door quickly, closing it behind him.

"Hey, Len," Hart grinned up at him. The kid was wearing a burgundy shirt, the top three buttons left open, and a pair of skin-tight skinny jeans that Len was sure must be uncomfortable. He adjusted the glasses on his face and sat down behind his desk.

"Hart. No-longer wearing contacts?" He noticed and Hart's smile dropped just a little bit as he blushed a deep red that almost matched his shirt.

"No; they, er, didn't work out. Turns out I'm allergic… which would have been nice to figure out _before_ they made my face swell up so much that I could barely open my eyes to take the god-damn things out." Hart laughed but Len knew him well enough to know when he was only putting on a smile. Len hoped, for Hartley's sake, that Cisco didn't see him that way.

Hart would deny it to his dying breath, but he had the biggest crush on Cisco. Hence the fact that last week when Hartley had temporarily taken off his glasses and Cisco had told him he looked 'different, _good_ different' without them, Hart had immediately claimed that he was going to start wearing contacts.

"Anyway, what's up?" Hart asked and Len took a seat on the opposite side of Hartley's desk.

"I was hoping you could track someone down for me," he said, choosing his words carefully. This was not stalking.

"Oh, sure," Hart said and immediately starting clicking on his laptop to bring up some software he had created. "Are we talking a metahuman or…?"

"No, just… an acquaintance that I want to get back in touch with," he replied. Hartley paused and Len could see that he was trying not to smile.

"Oh, er, sure. Name?"

"Barry Allen. He works for Central City News," he said and Hart typed in the information and gave Len Barry's phone number and home address. "Perfect. Thanks, Hart," he said with a smile, and Hartley grinned back up at him, before he left the office.

He made his way back down to where he parked his bike and swiftly travelled to the address that Hartley had supplied him with. He arrived outside of an apartment building and had to park a couple of blocks away to avoid the ticket zone. Len had to remind himself, as he walked, that he was still on a fact-finding mission. He couldn't let himself be convinced of Barry's story until there was enough evidence to support it.

As Len moved up the steps to the door, he saw someone else entering the building and so he managed to slip in behind them without having to use the buzzer. He double checked the door number that Hartley had given him before making his way up the stairs.

He stood outside Barry's apartment for a moment, gathering himself, before knocking. He heard a voice inside shouting 'coming!' and a couple of seconds later the door was being swung open and a dishevelled Barry Allen was standing in front of him, pillow impressions on the side of his face as though he had been napping.

Barry's eyes went wide and, when he spoke, he sounded shocked.

"Snart?"

"Len," he corrected and Barry nodded instantly. Len wondered how Barry even knew his last name since he was _sure_ that he had never told him it. It was only a small detail, but Len stored it away in his mind. If Barry's story still didn't sit right with him after this then Len would have to look into other ways that Barry could have found out so much.

"Yeah, right, sorry. What are you doing here?"

"You said you changed time. Why?"

"You believe me?" Barry asked, his whole face lighting up. This kid really did bare his emotions for the whole world to see.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that yet, Barry," Len drawled but the hope in Barry's eyes didn't diminish any and Len found himself a little glad about that.

" _Yet_. That means that you might believe me soon?"

"It depends how you answer the question," Len insisted. And Barry nodded then took a look back into his apartment and blushed.

"Do you want to come inside? It's a pretty long story," he muttered and Len nodded so Barry swiftly moved out of the way. The apartment was a fair size, if it little untidy. Barry blushed and cleared some of the clutter in the living room before Len sat down on the sofa. "So… wow. Where do I start?" Barry laughed to himself. "Okay, well, I told you that I was a speedster. I was kind of a hero for Central. Like you are now!" Barry said happily, a huge smile appearing on his face for a moment before his eyes darkened a little with sadness.

Len shifted forward on his seat as Barry stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room. He trained his eyes on Barry's face so that he could pick up each detail and determine if Barry was telling the truth. So far, he seemed to be.

"But… uh. There was another speedster. Not Thawne. This guy was someone completely different: he called himself Zoom… he killed my dad," Barry said softly and slowly and Len hadn't been expecting that. "And, well, I kind of had enough of people killing my family," he muttered darkly.

Barry went on to explain how he'd wanted to go back in time to stop it. "I wasn't actually planning on doing it… not at first. But the more I thought about it the more it made sense. I mean, I can travel through time. So why shouldn't I save him? And not just my dad, but my mum too."

After a short pause, Barry clarified that Thawne had murdered his mother when Barry was still only a child. And that, once he'd realised that he could travel time at will, it just made sense to save his parents. And that was how this new timeline was created. Len listened without saying a word through the entire explanation and after Barry was finished he sat and processed everything he'd just heard.

The Reverse Flash hadn't given him too much information about Barry, but what he _had_ said matched up pretty well with Barry's story. Apparently Len had been sitting quietly for too long again because Barry began to fidget restlessly.

"Are you going to say anything?" He eventually asked and Len made eye contact with the kid.

"What do you want me to say, Barry?" He asked and Barry smiled nervously.

"Well… do you believe me?" _Did he_? Len wasn't sure.

"How did you become the Flash?" He asked instead of answering. He needed as much information as possible before he could make a decision about this. Barry collapsed into a chair nearby and explained about how the particle accelerator had exploded and he was hit by lightning. It was a similar story to Wally's… but most people had put together by now that the explosion had been the main reason behind the appearance of metahumans in Central. So it wasn't so hard to make something like that up.

Len needed something more than that to convince him that Barry was speaking the truth. And Barry seemed to realise that because his face fell momentarily before he suddenly sat up straighter, clasping his hands together and leaning his elbows onto his knees.

"There are side-effects to being a speedster, you know," Barry said and Len titled his head slight while keeping his eyes completely trained on Barry's face. Of course _Len_ knew that, he had known Wally for a long time now after all, but that definitely _wasn't_ common knowledge. He remained silent and kept his face blank as Barry continued. "Like the low blood sugar. I used to have to eat over a hundred thousand calories a day or else I would go hypoglycaemic. Even more than that if I really exerted myself. So my friend, Cisco, he used to bake me this really high calorie energy bars. They tasted terrible but they stopped me from fainting… so that was good."

Len frowned at Barry. He knew Cisco in his timeline? Was that a coincidence or was it simply because Cisco couldn't resist trying to be a hero no matter what timeline he was in? And the energy bars… Wally complained about the taste of them all of the time too. But _no one_ knew about them, Len was sure of it.

"I believe you," he said after a moment and Barry eyes went wide in surprise, his lips pulling up at the corners into a huge grin. _Cute_ , Len thought. He wondered idly if his attraction to the younger man was why he was willing to even entertain the idea of time travel in the first place. But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that he _did_ believe him.

"Thank you," Barry breathed out. "You don't know how difficult it's been to not have anyone to confide in about any of this." Len could only imagine how Barry was feeling.

"We caught Thawne," he decided to say, figuring that it would be a relief to the kid considering what Barry had just told him about his history with the Reverse Flash. He was right. Some of the tension instantly dropped from Barry's shoulders.

"That's one thing off my mind, I suppose. I still have a lot to figure out, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a lot has changed," Barry said and then gave him a meaningful look that Len couldn't quite decipher. "Not all of it's bad…" he said in a soft voice and Len frowned, feeling like he was trying to put together a puzzle with most of the pieces missing. "But I need to fix some things. And I think I might need to be the Flash again." Len shifted and moved forward.

"You want to become a speedster again? Is that even possible?" He asked and Barry nodded.

"I've done it before," he replied and Len stored that information for now.

"Why would you even want to? After everything you've just told me, it sounds like being the Flash has caused you nothing but pain," Len mentioned and Barry's gaze dropped to the floor as he considered Len's words. "Maybe it's time to let someone else be the hero."

"I…" Barry seemed lost for words and Len figured it was time to leave and let Barry think things over. And Len, too, had a lot to consider. So he got up and smiled down at the young man across from him.

"I'll be seeing you, Barry," he drawled and then left the apartment. Barry followed him to the door to say goodbye so he kept walking on ahead until after he was safely outside of the building. Once he was definitely out of Barry's sight he stopped and leaned back against the nearest wall, sighing deeply and running a hand over his face.

So… time travel was real.

Len needed a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised that there was too much plot stuffed into each chapter and it was making it read as though it was rushed. So, instead of 7-10k chapters, they're going to be back to my regular chapter size again now. And, also, I’ve also rewritten the plan for basically the entire 2nd half of the fic. No longer is this the angstiest fanfic I have ever written; in fact, it’s pretty darn cute.
> 
> I mean, they’ll still face problems... but those issues will no longer be possession by an evil entity (dark phoenix style, like how version 1 of this fic ended) nor will one of them nearly explode (not quite Family of Rogues style… more like Heroes timeline 3? The one where Sylar has a son, style. Which happened in both my second and third versions of this fic).
> 
> Anyway... leave a comment to let me know your thoughts on this chapter? I love writing Len’s POV but I’m not always sure that I do it right. Hopefully you can weigh in on that and maybe even give me some tips for keeping him in character? I'll be able to update a bit quicker now that the chapter sizes are so much smaller. Probably actually be able to stick to the bi-weekly updates that I promised :)


	3. Chapter 3

Barry walked up to the house the next day feeling an odd sense of calm surrounding him. Snart… _Len_ … had somehow found out his mobile number and texted Barry this morning to invite him over for dinner. Barry had been beyond surprised by the invitation but he was more than happy to go, considering that Len was the only person in Barry's life who knew his secret.

He was surprised to find out that Len lived in such a nice neighbourhood and when he saw the house he froze and just blinked at it. It was a fairly big house with a well-kept garden filled with freshly trimmed bushes and bright little flowers and a stone pathway, not a weed in sight. And, to top it off, there was even a white picket fence. Barry must have had the wrong address because there was _no way_ that Captain Cold lived there! Except… Len _wasn't_ Captain Cold in this timeline, a fact that Barry kept constantly having to remind himself of.

He stepped through the gate and closed it behind him before taking slow steps down the pathway and towards the house. There wasn't a doorbell so Barry just knocked on and waited. After a few moments he saw some movement behind the frosted glass window on the door before it was pulled open. Len was wearing a big, soft, grey jumper paired with some worn-looking dark blue jeans and bare feet. And he was smiling. It was… nice. Odd, but definitely nice.

"Barry," Len greeted and let him inside where the house was filled with warms colours and just generally appeared inviting. Barry looked at the décor in the hallway as Snart took his coat and hung it up. This was weird. Should he tell Len this was weird? No, that would probably just make it _more_ weird.

"I like your house," Barry settled for saying. And how come he was feeling so uncomfortable right now? He'd felt completely normal the last two times him and Snart had talked.

"Thank you. It's been in my family for a long time."

"Family?" Barry muttered, his mind instantly jumping to Lewis Snart and he wondered if this was Len's dad's house. Suddenly it didn't appear so nice anymore. Something just felt _wrong_ about Len living in his father's house after all of the abuse that he and Lisa would have suffered here. Though maybe that was what had changed for Len? Maybe Lewis had never been abusive in this timeline and that was why Len wasn't a thief?

"It was my grandad's," Len elaborated and that made Barry feel a bit better about the situation again. "He left it to me and Lisa when he died."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Barry muttered but Len just shrugged it off.

"Don't worry about it, Kid. It was a long time ago." Len led Barry out of the hallway then and into the kitchen diner. "What do you want for dinner?" He asked as he pulled menus out of a drawer.

"Erm… pizza?" Barry asked. Pizza was always a safe bet. Everyone loved pizza.

Len handed Barry a menu and Barry pretended like he didn't always order the exact same thing as he glanced over it. Eventually they ordered a meatfeast with extra cheese and two lots of fries with ketchup. Len grabbed them both beers from the fridge and they settled in front of the TV.

"You know what I love about this timeline?" Barry muttered and Len looked at him expectantly. "That Firefly was never cancelled," he said with a grin and Len rolled his eyes.

"Surely there are better things to take away from this situation?"

"… Nope… not really," Barry joked. "No, yeah, of course there are a lot of great things here," he said, mostly thinking about his parents' smiling faces. "But, you know, an extra two seasons of Firefly is pretty great too. It's like…"

"The _ice_ -ing on a cake?" Len finished for him.

"Yes! Exactly," Barry exclaimed before realising that Len had just used another ice pun. "You really like doing that, don't you?" He laughed and Len shrugged.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Barry Allen," Len said coolly (and _dammit_! Now Barry was even _thinking_ in ice puns!)

Barry drained his beer when the pizza arrived and so Len passed him another one; which he drank a little slower, sipping at it in-between bites of cheesy goodness.

"Tell me about Barry Allen," Len asked and Barry frowned.

"I already told you my story."

"No, you told me about the Flash. But you're more than just a speedster, Barry. I want to know about _you_."

"Oh, okay. Well, er, I don't really like sports. I mean, I'll sometimes watch a game with Joe but that's more for his benefit than mine. I really _hate_ Lady Gaga. Like… don't even get me started on her," Barry laughed, remembering the months on end where he couldn't get Poker Face out of his head because of how often Cisco had played it for him on repeat while he'd been in a coma. "I love Halloween, and Christmas… Valentine's Day, too. Basically all cheesy holidays like that."

Barry continued on to give a short checklist of his likes and dislikes followed by a couple of stories from when he was growing up. He told Len about his university and his first celebrity crush. He told Len so much that even _he_ , aka the guy who could beat Felicity Smoak in a 'who can ramble for the longest' contest, was starting to feel embarrassed about how much he was talking.

"I mean, I don't even know if anything I just told you is still true in this timeline," Barry eventually ended on, taking sip of his third beer of the night.

"So you don't have your memories from this timeline? Does that mean there's another you running around out there?" Len asked with a smirk and a glint to his eye that Barry didn't quite understand.

"Nope. There's no other me. I don't think so, anyway. I think we... merged, or something. And I don't have my memories but I know things. Like there's this guy at work: I never met him in the old timeline and I don't remember him from this one. But I know his name and how many sisters he has and what topping he likes on his pizza. It's weird," Barry concluded with a shrug and took another gulp of his beer.

"I couldn't even begin to imagine."

"No, I mean his pizza topping is weird," Barry joked. "Who actually likes _pineapple_ on their pizza?" He asked with a mock shudder and Len let out an amused huff, tilting his head down to the floor but looking up at Barry through his eyelashes. Barry really loved when he did that.

Barry reached for another handful of fries and felt his head spin for a moment. He blinked and looked down at the bottle in his hand before laughing.

"What?" Len asked and Barry scratched the back of his neck.

"I just… I kind of forgot how this feels. Drinking alcohol, I mean," he explained. "My super metabolism used to work too fast for me to feel the effects of beer before… it's nice," he ended on and Len looked at him with what Barry could only describe as a fond smile. He had to blink his eyes a couple of times, though, to see it properly.

He realised suddenly that his resistance to alcohol was probably as low as a pre-teen's at this point, probably having reset itself every time that he healed. Meaning that he was likely the biggest 27-year-old light weight in existence. Well, that or this beer was really high in units. Possibly both. Barry put down the beer, deciding to take it a little slower for the rest of the night, and picked up his tray of fries instead to help him sober up.

"Okay, so you know how _I_ became a superhero. But what about you? How did you become _Citizen Cold_?" Barry asked after swallowing a handful of fries.

"So I'll take that to mean I wasn't a superhero in your timeline?" Len asked instead of replying and Barry couldn't help his snort. He did regret it afterwards though, worried that it came across rude. But, thankfully, Len didn't seem to think so because he was still looking at Barry with that beautiful smile on his face. Barry wondered why _his_ Len had never smiled at him like that.

"No… erm… this might sound a little crazy to you…" he admitted and this time it was Len's turn to laugh.

"Barry, you literally ran through _time_. How much crazier can this be?" He joked and Barry grinned.

"Yeah, I suppose that is a little crazy, huh," he muttered and bit into another fry before indulging in another sip of his beer. _God_ , he had missed this so much! The way that the world was spinning just a little bit, the way that all of Barry's little worries just melted away for a little while. Not being able to get drunk had _sucked_. Hmmm, _sucked_ , that was such a funny word!

Barry realised he was grinning and blinked several times to bring himself back from his inner monologue. Len was looking at him fondly and, _gosh_ , how was he that attractive? He was, like, _supermodel_ attractive! His face was almost symmetrical and his smile made his lips look plump and damn near edible. And those _eyes_!

"Barry?" Len smirked and Barry had to drag himself out of his daydream again.

"Hmm, what, yeah?" He asked.

"You were going to tell me about who I was in your timeline," he said, his smirk growing wider, and Barry blushed. He was a little surprised when he realised he'd just got caught up in his own thoughts admiring Len. He'd thought he had already dealt with all of this inappropriate attraction towards Captain Cold… though now he was _Citizen_ Cold and maybe it wasn't so inappropriate anymore. Barry shook his head to disperse those thoughts.

"Right…" he replied and tried to think of a way to put this. "Well, er, you definitely weren't a superhero. A fact that you liked to continuously point out to me." Barry laughed. That was just so hilarious to him now. "You were actually a thief," he said once the last of his giggles teetered off. Len raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Barry's words but he let him continue without saying anything. "You went by _Captain_ Cold instead of Citizen… oh, and you said a lot more puns!"

"Are you saying that I need to up my pun-game, Barry?" Len drawled and Barry shook his head violently, laughing.

" _Please no_."

"Oh, don't be so _frosty_ , Barry." Len smirked and Barry laughed a little bit louder despite himself.

"You're terrible." Len looked like he was going to continue but then he paused and closed his mouth. A few seconds later he seemed to finally decide on what he wanted to say.

"Can I ask you a question, Barry?" He asked and Barry hmm in response, licking the ketchup off his thumb. "If I was a criminal in your timeline, then why did you chose to confide in me in this one?"

"Because…" Barry wasn't so sure why, actually. It had just slipped out at first. And then it had just felt like such a weight off of his chest that he knew that he needed to share it with _someone_. But there was more to it than just that… "Because you weren't as bad as you liked to pretend. And I can trust you. Plus, I already know you can keep a secret. You never told anyone my secret identity. Not even your sister!" Barry exclaimed and Len titled his head.

"You told me your secret?" Len asked and Barry shook his head.

"Not exactly. It's a long story," he muttered, not really feeling like getting into it right now. Thankfully, Len dropped the subject. There was a moment of silence before Barry realised that Len had never answered _his_ question. "So why did you become a hero?" Barry asked again and Len sat back a little in his chair, suddenly becoming sombre.

"It definitely hadn't been intentional," Len admitted. "I was a criminal at first too and I had no plan of changing."

"Then what happened?"

"The particle accelerator. My sister was affected." Well this was news to Barry; he sat up a little straighter.

"Lisa is a meta here?" He asked, shocked, and Len frowned at him a moment before nodding slowly. "What can she do?"

"Cisco calls it astral projection," Len said and was continuing before Barry had enough time to react to the fact that Len was working with _Cisco_ in this timeline. "She's been in a coma ever since the explosion. As part of a PR stunt, the higher members of STAR Labs starting visiting the victims of the blast and Cisco was the one who visited Lisa. And then kept visiting her.

"And, apparently, it's true what they say about people in comas: they really are aware of what's going on around them. Because one day, during one of Cisco's visits, he told Lisa about metahumans. He told her that they were all his fault, that Reverse Flash was his fault, and that he was going to stop them.

"Lisa must have taken a shine to him because that was the first day she ever astral projected. She showed up at my house and begged me to help him." Len laughed suddenly, but it wasn't necessarily a happy laugh. "I thought I was going insane. But I went anyway. Got there just as Thawne was throwing Cisco around… I picked the cold gun up off the floor to stop him. And that was that," Len shrugged.

"That is… a lot of information to take in when you're drunk," Barry mumbled and Len let out a short laugh. Their food had long-since been eaten and neither of them were really paying any attention to what was playing on the TV anymore. It was… odd, to feel this comfortable around Leonard Snart. He'd occasionally felt something similar to this with him back in the old timeline, but those moments were fleeting and Len always seemed to rebuild his walls higher whenever Barry managed to break one down.

Barry placed his empty tray of fries back on the coffee table, realising suddenly that he and Len had both at some point moved so that their backs were against the arms of the sofa so that they could look at each other straight on as they talked. He didn't even remember making a conscious effort to do that.

His eyes flicked down to the beer bottle on the coffee table and he longed to have one last gulp of the cool liquid, but he knew that he shouldn't. His head was already spinning. Barry sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he thought it over and he noticed Len's eyes study the movement.

"Barry... how drunk are you, right now?" Len asked, his voice a little deeper than normal. Barry couldn't help the laugher that bubble out of him in reply and Len sighed. "I guess that's my answer. Come on, I'll give you a lift home."

"I can get a cab!" Barry muttered, not wanting to be a pain to Len who had been so _nice_ to him.

"Not in this state, you can't," Len scolded and grabbed his keys from a nearby drawer and motioned for Barry to follow him.

"Does this mean I get to ride on the back of your bike?" Barry realised and his face heated up slightly as he remembered a particularly vivid fantasy he'd once had that involved him and Len bent over that bike… one that he had promised himself not to think about again, _god dammit_ , Barry internally chided himself.

"Not tonight," Len replied and Barry followed him into the garage attached to the house and towards a sleek black car, a make that Barry had never seen before. He slid into the soft leather passenger seat and sighed contently as Len drove him back to his apartment.

[] [] []

The last few days had been… interesting. Barry had always believed that there was good in Len. But there was a big difference between _believing_ it and _seeing_ it. He was good. And not just in the way that he was interacting with Barry, but also in the way that he was going out every night as Citizen Cold and stopping bad guys.

It was… strange how relaxed Barry felt around him in such a short period of time. But, despite Barry's past with the _other_ Leonard Snart, he felt comfortable around Len in a way he hadn't thought was possible. And it was nice having someone he could rely on again – a constant from both of his lives to make him feel more grounded.

Which was maybe why he suddenly felt fear stab at his stomach when he walked into work a few days after his meal with Len and saw the building abuzz with the news of Citizen Cold being injured while fighting a metahuman.

"Wait, Cold was hurt?" Barry asked after overhearing Tom discussing it with another co-worker.

"Yeah. Weren't you watching the news last night?" _No, no he wasn't_. Barry couldn't bring himself to watch the news anymore now that he knew Iris was one of the newscasters on his favourite channel. He couldn't stand seeing her on TV and knowing that she hated him…

"I was… busy," Barry muttered and Tom just shrugged, accepting the answer.

"Well, Weather Wizard teamed up with the Trickster last night." _Uh oh_. Barry knew from personal experience how bad that particular combination couold get. "They managed to knock the cold gun away from him… it didn't go so well after that," Tom finished ominously and Barry swallowed, imagining the worst.

"The Lightning showed up, though," the other co-worker announced, a young blonde woman who's name Barry didn't know. "He managed to get Cold out of there." Barry felt a knot in his chest loosen ever so slightly after that. The Lightning was the name of the speedster that Len worked with in this timeline. If he'd shown up, then that meant Len was in safe hands. But, still, Barry couldn't shift the anxiety and worry in his chest.

"I gotta go," he said suddenly, taking a step back from his co-workers.

"You just got in," Tom laughed and Barry put on a nervous smile and shrugged.

"Yeah, but I have a story to run down," he waved the question off and Tom frowned.

"What story?"

"I'll… I'll tell you about it later," Barry nodded and then turned and practically ran back out of the building. The walk from the news station to Len's house was too long and so Barry found himself ringing Len as he rushed to the bus station. But the phone went straight to voicemail, making Barry worry even more.

He got onto the bus and sat down before he started nervously tapping his fingers against the seat, annoying the people nearby who kept shooting him dirty looks. When the bus _finally_ stopped a couple of streets away from Len's house, Barry let out a loud sigh and rushed away, barely managing to stop to say thank you to the bus driver.

He was on Len's porch and knocking on his door within a couple of minutes, waiting anxiously as he heard someone moving around the house. At least the Lightning hadn't taken Len back to their base of operations, wherever _that_ was, so that Barry could actually check on him. He couldn't even imagine how worried he'd become if it turned out Len wasn't here after all.

But a moment later the superhero in question opened the door.

Barry sighed in relief and felt his entire body deflate. He hadn't been sure what he was expecting Len's state to be but, at first look, this didn't appear to be too bad. He had a couple of small cuts on his forehead but otherwise… Len appeared to be okay.

"Barry?" Len asked, seeming surprised to find the younger man show up on his doorstep unannounced.

"Your phone's dead," he muttered and hoped that was enough of an explanation. Len's forehead creased in a frown but he just nodded and stepped aside to allow Barry into his home. "I heard what happened. Are you okay?" He asked and Len shrugged as he closed the door.

"Peachy." Barry couldn't help the small huff of a laugh that escaped him at that comment. It was strange how Len could be so _different_ and yet so similar at the same time. But then Len turned around and the cuts on his head reminded Barry of why he was here.

He looked at Len studiously as he tried to determine just how injured he was. The cuts were all Barry could see on his face but Barry could now see a red/purplish mark peeking out from under his shirt. Barry moved forward and reached out to move the material out of the way to see how big the bruise was and determine how likely it was that Len had a fractured rib.

But before Barry's fingers could touch his chest, Len's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist to stop him. Len winced and instantly let go, diverting Barry's his attention from Len's chest to his wrist. Gently, he reached forward and pulled on Len's hand to get him to raise it again, which Len did with a heavy sigh.

"It's just a sprain, Barry," Len drawled. But Barry ignored him and fussed over Len's wrist, biting his lip as he looked it over. It was definitely red and swollen. He frowned up at Len.

"You need to be more careful," he chastised. And, wow, wasn't that a weird concept? The Flash chastising Leonard Snart about not being careful enough. The idea was almost crazy enough to make him laugh. _Almost_.

"Calm down, Kid. I'm fine," Len muttered and pulled his hand back from Barry's fingers one last time.

"It's swollen, Len," Barry pointed out and Len rolled his eyes. "At least put some ice on it." He didn't realise what he was saying until it was too late and the words were already out of his mouth. Len grinned across at him and now it was Barry's turn to roll his eyes. "That was not a pun!" He defended himself and Len laughed.

"Whatever you say, Barry."

Barry wanted to defend himself some more but then he decided that there were more important things to worry about. He turned around and went further into Len's house towards his freezer. There was a mostly-full bag of ice at the front and Barry grabbed a handful, shoving it inside a food bag that he pulled from the drawer. The ice was in large chunks and so he took a moment to grab a rolling pin from the cutlery drawer and quickly bash it down to a smaller size that would wrap around Len's wrist easily.

By the time Barry was done he noticed that Len was standing in the kitchen doorway and looking at him with an amused smirk on his face.

"Go sit down," Barry ordered and Len raised an eyebrow at the command but complied anyway. Barry followed Len into the living room and sat next to him on the sofa. He gently held Len's wrist and silently covered it with the bag of ice chips.

"You seem like you've done this before," Len mentioned and Barry shrugged.

"I, er, have never been the most graceful of people," he said, subtly explaining away all of the times he had fallen over or walked into things or even, at one unfortunately unforgettable moment, run into glass doors. The speed force hadn't changed that; it had only made him less capable of accidently hurting himself as he stumbled through life. Barry lifted the bag from Len's wrist and began to dab at the swollen skin.

"Right." Len's voice was softer than normal and Barry, who had been concentrating fully on Len's injury, looked up at him through his eyelashes. God, he hadn't realised how close they were sitting. Barry felt his heart flutter just a little bit as he raised his head to look at Len fully. The older man had a small smile on his face and, with them sitting so close, it was hard for Barry to miss the way his blue eyes darted down to look at Barry's mouth.

Barry's tongue darted out self-consciously and wetted his bottom lip; Len's eyes seemed to track the motion, darkening substantially. Barry opened his mouth to say something. Anything. But then Len was leaning in closer and Barry didn't have time to think before Len was kissing him. His brain shut off for a moment and all Barry could think of was how soft Len's lips felt against his own.

His eyes fluttered shut as he leaned in. Len's mouth tasted sweet though Barry wasn't quite sure what the taste was. He pushed a little bit closer, curious about it, until he was practically sitting on Len's lap. The hand that had been clutching at the ice bag let go and Barry's finger brushed up Len's arm. They got to his chest and Len shivered at the cold emanating from them, seeping in through the fabric of his shirt.

Len's injured hand was still being gripped, maybe a little too tightly now, by Barry's fingers. But he wrapped his spare arm around Barry's shoulders, his fingers just brushing the hair on the nape of Barry's neck, as his tongue flicked out across Barry's lips.

Barry moaned quietly and opened his mouth more to the kiss. His fingers brushed up Len's chest and cupped his jaw. Barry titled his head a little bit to get a better angle as Len tangled his hand into Barry's hair. Barry wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was the dull throb from where Len was tugging at his hair or maybe it was the brush of stubble on Len's cheeks from where he'd been unable to shave this morning due to his sprained wrist, but something suddenly kicked Barry's brain back into gear.

Barry realised all too suddenly that this was _real_. He was actually pressing up against Leonard Snart. Leonard Snart's tongue was in his mouth. His eyes shot open and Barry pulled away suddenly. This wasn't one of his semi-reoccurring dreams or dark fantasies. He couldn't indulge like this. Could he?

This was _Captain Cold_! But… it also wasn't: because it was _Citizen_ Cold, the superhero of Central City. Barry swallowed thickly as he looked at Len with wide eyes. God, this new timeline made everything so much more complicated. At least before he knew where he stood, knew that he could never indulge in these feelings. Now though…

Barry's mind flitted to Iris and he stood up abruptly. This was all too complicated. He took a large step back from the sofa, from Len, and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously as Len frowned up at him.

"I… well, that was unexpected. I mean nice! Very nice! But definitely… unexpected," Barry stumbled over his words as he continued to retreat away, the back of his legs hit Len's coffee table and for a moment he thought he was going to fall but he eventually righted himself and laughed at his own expense.

Len slowly stood up from where he had been sitting on the sofa and the ice bag that had been draped over his wrist fell to the floor. His face was completely blank now and Barry's traitorous eyes were drawn down to his reddened, kiss-bitten, lips. Barry swallowed thickly.

"I… I should go. Not because of you!" Barry was quick to amend. "Just… I… you know. Work. Yep… bye?" He squeaked out. Len nodded and Barry's stomach twisted for a moment before he turned and dashed out of Len's house "Don't forget to put a bandage on your wrist!" Barry called out at the last moment and then he closed the door behind him and let out a long breath.

What had he just done?

After a few seconds of, unsuccessfully, trying to quiet the part of his brain that was freaking out, he let go of the door handle and swiped his hand across his face. Barry took an unsteady step forward and tried to calm his racing heart. He couldn't believe he'd just _kissed_ Captain Cold. And he'd enjoyed it, too. His mind drifted to Iris; she was married now. He wasn't cheating on her. He _wasn't_! But how come it felt like he was?

This was all far too complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, apparently, the most heart breaking thing in this fic is the Cisco/Lisa storyline. Like, that was not where I was planning to go with that. I'm actually now considering writing a oneshot companion fic to go with this; one that's focussed on Cisco and Lisa falling in love and trying to date despite the fact that she's in a coma and doesn't have very good control of her astral projections yet. It'd be funny and heart breaking at the same time. Would anyone actually read that? Or would I just be wasting my time?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it’s been so long. Updates in this fic and Thantophobia will be a bit slow for the time being because I’m trying to get some of my smaller fics out of the way while also juggling uni work. I’ll try to update about once a month from now on, though. But only until after my exams in May

Barry went for a walk to clear his head. It was cloudy and cold outside today and he hugged his jacket tighter around himself, wishing that he’d had the foresight to wear a warmer coat. He kept his eyes on the grey clouds above and tried to keep his mind off of how Len’s lips had felt against his own. But, eventually, Barry had managed to walk the entire way back to his place from Len’s. He waddled up the stairs to his apartment and froze in place when he looked up from his mud-soaked trainers to see Leonard Snart standing outside of his door.

“I’m not used to people running away from me when I kiss them,” Len said when Barry just continued to stare at him, as though that explained why he was here.

“No… I’m sure you’re not,” Barry replied, _finally_ verbally admitting that he found Len attractive. Barry slowly began moving forward again, pulling his apartment key from his pocket and unlocking his door. He left it open for Len, who closed it behind him as he walked through. Barry’s apartment was a bit of a mess… as always, so he quickly tidied up the living area before they sat down on the sofa. With nothing left to do, the silence became suffocating for Barry but he just didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry,” Len began, surprising him. “I misread the signals. It won’t happen again.”

“I… oh.”

“Barry?” He questioned, sounding confused by Barry melancholy tone. But he was no more confused than Barry was.

“You… you didn’t misread anything,” Barry muttered, realising his feelings. And, wow, how long had he felt this way? He’d always found Leonard Snart attractive but this felt _different_. Was this new? Or had he felt this way about _his_ Len too? Barry was suddenly unsure.

“You ran away from me when I kissed you,” Len pointed out and Barry nodded slowly.

“Yep. You’re right. I, er, I did do that,” he muttered, finding it hard to make eye contact as he continued. “But… would you believe that, maybe, I ran away _because_ I like you?” Len just continued frowning, waiting for Barry to elaborate. “I was with someone… in the other timeline. She’s married here, with a kid actually, and I wasn’t even _truly_ with her because we’d only kissed twice. And one of them didn’t count because it was in a _third_ timeline. But we never even went on a date. In _any_ timeline. And, wow, I think I’ve been saying timeline far too often. It’s starting to sound weird. But I’m going off track,” Barry laughed nervously and scratched at his head. “The thing is… we never dated, but this still feels like I’m cheating on her. And I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I _want_ ,” he admitted sullenly, dropping his head into his hands.

There was a long pause where neither of them talked. Barry felt himself becoming uneasy in the silence again and so he slowly lifted his head to look at Len once more. The older man’s gaze was calculating as he seemed to go over everything Barry had just admitted to him.

“Then how about we cool things down a little bit? Take things slow for a while and decide where to go from there,” Len eventually suggested and Barry smiled.

“Your puns are the worst”

“Don’t _burn me_ , Barry.”

“I… I can try slow.”

[] [] []

It was a few days later when Barry next saw Len. As requested, they were taking things “slow” and so they hadn’t even texted much during that time. Barry had managed to get his bearings a little better in this timeline: he’d gone to work and written up his first story (which had actually already been printed in the newspaper. Thank God that he seemed to have that type of muscle memory here! Actually starting writing had been difficult, but once he got that first sentence down the words just flowed. He’d spent the weekend with his parents and got to re-know them, and he’d even managed to hold a real conversation with this-timeline-Barry’s work friends. It was by no means perfect, but he was starting to actually settle here and that felt good.

Now that he’d managed all of that, it was time for his coffee date with Len. Though Barry used the word “date” loosely. He kept having to remind himself that this was nothing! It equated to nothing more than two friends sitting at the same table and sharing polite conversation while drinking coffee. He and Cisco did that all of the time without it being even slightly romantic… so why had Barry spent the past half an hour fussing over his hair? And why did he have butterflies in his stomach?

This wasn’t a first date! But, _God_ , did it feel like one…

Barry entered Jitters on time (there was a first time for everything, it seemed) and found Len sitting at a table with two coffee cups in front of him. Barry’s legs felt weak as he walked forward and took a seat.

“Hey,” he breathed out and Len smiled, one of those gorgeous genuine smiles that Barry hadn’t even known he was capable of before creating this timeline, as he pushed a coffee cup in Barry’s direction.

“A brewed coffee with a shot of expresso,” he said, describing the ingredients of the drink that had been dubbed ‘ _The Flash_ ’ back in the old timeline but which wasn’t on the normal menu here, for obvious reasons.

“You remembered?” Barry asked, surprised.

“Well, I do have an eidetic memory.”

“Wait. _Really_?”

“You didn’t know that?” Len questioned and Barry shook his head, his hands wrapping around the cup in front of him.

“What’s it like?”

“Well, you’ll never be able to win an argument against me,” he laughed but it was fake: there wasn’t light behind his eyes. “But, some memories you just want to forget.” That was like a kick to Barry’s gut. Len was talking about Lewis. He _had_ to be. Barry took a gulp of his drink, realising too late that it was a bit too hot still. He considered spitting it out again but he didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of Len and so he instead forced himself to swallow, slightly burning the back of his throat. He coughed as his throat began to sting and his eyes watered. “So, I guess I’ve told you about that already then. In your old timeline,” Len guessed, ignoring Barry’s idiocrasy. At least his eyes his eyes looked a little brighter now.

“Sort of,” Barry croaked out. He felt the need to cough again but he held it in. “I didn’t know whether that had happened in this timeline too, though,” Barry managed to say after a couple of seconds and Len nodded.

“It’s why I have an eidetic memory in the first place. I took a few too many blows to the head as a child,” Len said conversationally. Barry didn’t know how he was able to talk about something like this as though he was discussing the weather. The amount of walls he must have up in his mind was astonishing and Barry’s heart ached for him. “Most people lose their memories, but instead I got stuck with this. Among other things.”

“Other things? I mean, no, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just curious. If it’s personal then I completely understand so you really don’t have to worry about, I don’t know, offending me or something by not answering my question. Because I would completely understand. Not that you would be worrying about offending me because that’s just stupid; this is your life so you shouldn’t ever feel like you have to share your story if you’re not comfortable doing so. And I’m just going to shut up now.” _God_. Why does he always ramble on like that when he’s nervous. He’s such an idiot.

“I want to tell you,” Len smirked and took a sip of his coffee.

Barry wondered just how much of Len’s _cool_ (God dammit, Barry really couldn’t stop!) exterior was a façade… he couldn’t truly feel this calm while talking about past child abuse… could he? By the time that Len started talking again, he had stopped smirking but he still outwardly appeared far too comfortable discussing a topic that made Barry’s insides twist.

“When I was eleven, Lewis found out I had a crush on one of my classmates. A boy. He didn’t take it very well.” For a moment there was a crack in Len’s mask: just the slightest flutter of emotion in his eyes and tugging at his lips. “I wound up in the hospital for a week with slight brain damage, and he managed to convince everyone that I’d fallen out of a window while playing.”

“… brain damage,” Barry muttered in surprise.

“ _Slight_ brain damage,” Len corrected, tapping at the side of his head. “It was localised. A swelling in the hippocampus, which caused my eidetic memory along with an increased spatial awareness, and damage to my hypothalamus, which means that signalling from my nerve cells doesn’t always get read correctly… meaning that I generally feel uncomfortably warm all of the time.”

“I… I’m sorry,” Barry managed to stutter out and Len just shrugged it off as he took another sip of his drink.

“I’m used to it. How about we talk about something happier?” Len suggested once it was obvious that Barry didn’t know how to respond. Barry nodded and bit his lip, trying to come up with something new to talk about. “I read your article,” Len approached and Barry managed a smile. Normally he would be grinning but the weight of the previous conversation still hung over him.

“You did?” They hadn’t been texting _much_ , but Len was the only person that knew Barry’s secret and so he was the only one Barry could text after getting confirmation that his first article was going to be printed.

“It was interesting,” Len nodded, sounding genuine. Barry’s smile grew a little bit more. “You’re a great writer, Barry.”

The rest of their evening continued in a lighter tone and they never breached the subject of child abuse again. Once they finished their coffees, they talked for a little longer before parting ways.

After saying goodbye to Len, Barry walked the short distance from Jitters to Central City Picture News. He’d left some of his notes there this morning and he needed to pick them up now before going back home.

It was fairly late in the afternoon when he entered the news station, but there were still several employees dotted around and typing furiously at their computers in an attempt to finish whatever articles they were working on. Two men were standing in the kitchen area and talking as they made coffees to prepare for the long night they had in front of them. It was… calming. The setting was all too familiar and reminded Barry of the precinct where he used to work.

For a moment, Barry’s worries quietened. All day there had been a little voice in the back of his head telling him that he couldn’t actually be with Len. But now… well, _so what_ if he’d just been on a date with Leonard Snart? It may not have been in his plans when he’d decided to change time, but that didn’t make it wrong. Barry liked Len and Len liked Barry. Neither of them were cheating by being together so what harm could really happen? He’d be a fool if he didn’t give them a chance.

He was in his own head as he gathered his notes from his desk, shoving them into his bag, so he almost didn’t recognise the familiar voice coming from the TV. Working for a newspaper, the office constantly had at least one news channel playing at a time, from one of the several TVs dotted around the room. He tended to keep his head down and ignore them, but whenever Iris came on it was like a homing beacon, calling Barry’s attention.

He looked up and directly into the eyes of the woman on screen who he once loved, and who he maybe still loved… he wasn’t too sure anymore.

It hurt to see her now, which was why he never opted to watch the news channel anymore. She was one of his best friends, but she hated him.

Barry blinked and the news channel brought up images of a destroyed city. His eyes widened suddenly as he read the title of the news report at the bottom of the page: ‘ _Brighter days ahead for Starling City: Damien Darhk vows to revive the city to its once-great memory_ ’.

Star City had been destroyed?

 _How_?!

Barry stood stiff, his heart racing and his breathing coming heavy, as he listened to Iris’ report.

“It’s been almost two years now since the incident in Starling City. The large-scale terrorist attack coordinated by Slade Wilson and met by the United States Military defence levelled the majority of the city, killing thousands of civilians. New York billionaire, Damien Darhk released a statement last week alongside his wife and City Mayor, Ruvé Darhk, claiming that they would work to restore the city. Today they elaborated that the first step of their plan will take place on the day of the two-year anniversary of the Starling City incident next month.”

Barry had stopped listening. Slade Wilson… he knew that name. That was the identity of Deathstroke. But… Oliver had defeated Slade’s mirakuru army! Or, at least, he had in the old timeline. Barry had been in a coma during the attack but he’d been to Star City often enough since to know that it hadn’t been wiped off of the map. So why had Oliver not been able to stop them this time?

… this was Barry’s fault.

Coming back in time had somehow meant that the Arrow couldn’t save Star City. Barry stopped packing up his notes and sat down at his desk. He didn’t go home that night: instead, he sat behind his computer and did research. He’d been doing an awful lot of it lately… but this time he wasn’t looking to find out why the iPhone had never been invented or what had happened to his favourite celebrities. Instead, he was looking to find out why an entire city of people had been killed.

After a few hours, Barry had a migraine. The reports on the ‘Starling City Incident’, as most papers reported, were unofficial and vague. There had been sightings of the Arrow and his team in the city, so why hadn’t they been able to stop the attack? Barry didn’t have a clue why the fight had been different this time… but he knew a few people that might be able to help him understand.

[] [] []

It hadn’t taken long to find Felicity Smoak. She’d moved to a town located just outside of Central, after Star City had been destroyed, and now she was working as an IT technician at her local school, her name and details advertised in the school’s staff directory.

He’d sent her an email asking to meet her for a report he was writing about Star City, just barely remembering to call in _Starling_ City because it had apparently never undergone the name change here. She’d been confused why he’d chosen to meet with _her,_ specifically, but she’d agreed to it nonetheless. And now he was waiting for her to show up at the coffee shop in the town’s highstreet.

It was sunny and warm outside, the beginning of a summer’s heat, which was a change from all of last week when it had been raining and cold. Barry carried his jacket with him anyway but shrugged it off the moment he got inside, now it lay on the back of his chair.

When Felicity came into the café, Barry almost didn’t recognise her: her hair was dyed a light brown colour and it was cut into a wispy shoulder-length bob. She was wearing a salmon coloured shirt with black trousers but, when Barry called her over and introduced himself, she was lacking her signature smile. Instead, it seemed forced and unnatural. Barry didn’t know how to feel about that, it wasn’t anything like the friend he once knew.

“So, Barry Allen, why did you want to see _me_?” Felicity asked. “I’m just an IT girl. I don’t think I could spread any light on the attack in Starling City.” _Well_ , Barry thought, _at least she got better at lying_. That was still something that Barry needed to work on.

“I… may have embellished a bit in my email,” he explained and Felicity frowned at him. “I’m not writing a report on the attack, per se. More like trying to figure out why the Arrow was unable to stop it.”

“One man against an army? The Arrow may have been a lot of things, but he wasn’t invincible,” she mumbled.

 _Wasn’t_.

“Oliver’s _dead_?!” Barry breathed out in shock and Felicity’s eyes widened.

“How did you-“ she started before she managed to compose herself and started again. “Who’s Oliver?” Okay… so maybe her lying skills hadn’t improved _that_ much, after all.

“Oliver Queen. The Arrow,” Barry answered quietly.

“You’ve got the wrong girl,” Felicity brushed off. “I don’t know anything about the Arrow.” She pushed her chair back and looked like she was about to get up to leave, so Barry blurted out his next sentence quickly.

“You worked with him! You and John Diggle.” Felicity looked from Barry to the surrounding café carefully; but there was only one other person in sight, the waitress who was currently listening to her headphones behind the counter as she cleaned the machines.

“Where did you hear that?” Felicity laughed as though it was funny. The sound was tense and brittle.

“I was friends with Oliver.” Felicity frowned at him. “Back when the world still thought he was dead,” Barry lied. He remembered Felicity complaining back in their old timeline about how Oliver wasn’t on Lian Yu for the entire time he was away, but that he refused to tell her and Diggle the rest of the story. Barry was fairly certain that she couldn’t prove what he was saying was a lie. “I didn’t know he was dead,” he finished, sincerely mourning the loss of one of his friends.

Felicity seemed to believe him because she settled back into her seat again.

“What do you want to know?” She said after a long sigh.

“How did he die?” Barry asked quietly. Felicity was silent for a moment and couldn’t meet Barry’s gaze.

“He, uh…” she paused and cleared her throat. Slowly, she explained the events leading up to Slade’s attack on the city: how Slade killed Oliver’s mother and then Oliver became distant, both of these things Barry already knew. But, apparently, in this timeline Oliver never snapped out of it. He continued acting dangerously and eventually was taken out by a couple of Slade’s men about a week before the attack. After that, Roy took up the mantel of the Arrow. But they weren’t strong enough to defeat Slade’s army of super soldiers without Oliver.

They died. Everyone died. As she told Barry the truth, tears filled her eyes and her voice cracked with the weight of her emotions. Barry tried to comfort her by placing his hand on top of hers, but she flinched away. Felicity sat up tall and wiped her eyes before she excused herself and left the café in a hurry.

Barry’s mind was reeling. Oliver, Diggle, Sarah, Roy, Ray too if the man dressed in the Atom suit flying around Central was to be trusted… hell, the entire god damn city! They were all gone because of Barry. Barry had made a choice to save his parents and it killed his friends. And here he was, his family alive and dating Captain Cold, while all of his friend’s lives apparently were falling apart.

This wasn’t right.

It was too late to save them, he knew that… but, _maybe_ , he could help correct the rest of the messes in this timeline. Maybe he could do some good to help make up for all of the bad that he’d caused. With shaking hands, Barry took his phone from his pocket and rang the only person he knew in this timeline that could help him.

“Barry,” Len greeted, as he answered the call, and Barry had to swallow down the lump in his throat before he could speak.

“Len… I need your help. I need to become the Flash again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit scattered, sorry, but it's more of a filler chapter than anything else. In fact, you could probably say that the next few chapters will also be fillers... but at least chapter 5 will be more fun that this one. I promise ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS: Barry is in a lot of pain during a section of this chapter after trying to get his powers back. That part is written from his POV.

Barry clung to Len on the back of his bike. Normally, Len would be thoroughly enjoying this moment… likely going as far as to physically tease Barry and seeing how much he could make the younger man’s heart race and body react. Now, however, he wasn’t in the mood; because Len was driving Barry to STAR Labs to meet with Cisco and attempt to get his superspeed back.

Barry had told him that he’d lost and recovered his powers in the past timeline, but he didn’t go into how exactly he had gotten them back. The look on his face, however, told Len that maybe he didn’t _want_ to know.

Len drove Barry towards STAR Labs’ employee parking lot and used the employee ID card that Cisco had given him to get into the building through the back entrance. Once inside, he wasn’t surprised to see that Barry knew exactly where he was going as they walked through the empty halls and towards the cortex.

He’d asked Cisco to meet with him, but hadn’t elaborated why. And so when they walked into the cortex, Cisco showed surprised to see that Len wasn’t there alone

“Er, who is _this_?” Cisco demanded.

“Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen,” Len introduced.

“And why is he here?”

“Because I need your help,” Barry said, stepping forward. Len took a step out of the way and leaned against the wall behind him as Barry continued. “This is probably… _definitely_ , going to sound insane. But I used to be a speedster. And I need your help in getting my powers back.” Barry then went on to explain how he had time travelled and created a new timeline.

Cisco seemed sceptical at first but Barry eventually won him over, just like he’d won over Len. In fact, Cisco appeared to be very excited about the prospect of time travel.

“I still don’t know how I can help,” he replied. “The particle accelerator explosion was an accident. I don’t know how to give anyone powers.”

“But it’s possible. You’ve done it for me before when my speed got stolen by another speedster.” Barry then grabbed a marker from the bench and began drawing a machine on a nearby whiteboard. Cisco came closer and they talked animatedly about the diagram.

But the more Len heard, the more he hated this plan. He didn’t like it one bit, it all just sounded too risky. Barry was openly risking his life here to become a speedster again and Len didn’t think it was worth it. But this wasn’t his decision. Barry’s mind was made up and Len had no grounds to give his opinion. So, he said nothing.

In the end, Cisco agreed to think about Barry’s request… but only if _all_ members of Team Cold vouched for Barry. So, Len made the call and they grabbed some doughnuts to eat while they waited for the Kid Lightning to show up.

“ _Wally_?” Barry blinked after the young man sped into the room, dressed fully in his yellow reinforced tri-polymer suit and cowl, and began questioning Barry in the same way Cisco had. Len wasn’t surprised that Barry knew Wally already, he seemed to know everything else after all, but the surprise in Barry’s voice threw him a little. So, Wally wasn’t a speedster in Barry’s timeline? Interesting.

“Do I know y-… I mean, who’s Wally?” If Cisco hadn’t facepalmed at that, then Len would have. Instead he rolled his eyes.

“Wally West. Your dad helped to raise me. In the other timeline, that is. And Iris…” Barry paused. “We were close.” Len didn’t like the sound of that. He wondered if Wally’s sister was the married woman that Barry was in love with: it made his stomach turn with jealousy. He mentally marked Barry’s relationship with Iris down as something else that he didn’t want to know any more about.

[] [] []

Barry spent a lot of time inside STAR Labs over the next few days. And the more time he spent there, the more it felt like he was coming home. Everything about Barry’s life in this timeline was different, and so it felt great to have Cisco as a friend again. The man even gave him his own employee ID card to give him access to the whole building whenever he wanted it. They’d even showed him where the Reverse Flash was being kept… though Barry was yet to actually go down to his cell and talk to the other speedster again.

After about a week, Cisco shoved some blueprints under Barry’s nose. Barry unravelled them to see a mock-up of the machine that would get him his powers back… it looked exactly how Barry remembered it. It took only another week to build. In that time, Barry had started bonding with Wally too. He’d told the younger man about the mess with Joe and Iris in this timeline and why they both hated him. Wally had thought it over and given Barry some advice on how to fix things with his family, promising to put in a good word for him too.

Everything finally felt like it was coming together. He had his parents, he had Wally, and Cisco, Len too (which was still probably the biggest surprise to happen in this timeline), and soon he’d have Joe and Iris again. Maybe he’d even find a way to reconnect with Caitlin once he’d gotten his powers back?

Once Cisco was finally happy with the machine, Barry decided to just book off a day from work so he could get this over with as quickly as possible. He’d lived long enough without his powers, the sooner he had them back the better. Once again he sat on the back of Len’s bike, cuddling up against him as Len drove him to the labs. This was the last time he would have an excuse to do this, after all, he was going to make the most of it.

They got to STAR Labs and walked side by side through the corridors and towards the room where the machine was set up. Len was oddly quiet throughout the whole time and Barry wanted to ask if everything was okay, but he didn’t know how to bring it up. They’d been spending a lot of time together lately, and Barry _really_ liked him, but ever since he’d ran away from that kiss it’s been difficult to figure out where they stood with each other. And so, regrettably, Barry kept silent too.

As they got closer to the room, Len stopped walking suddenly and placed a hand on Barry’s shoulder to get him to stop too. When Barry looked at him, Len’s face was carefully blank again. That was never a good sign…

“Barry,” Len started, his voice missing his customary drawl that Barry was used to hearing whenever the atmosphere got tense around him. “Are you sure you really want to do this?” The question surprised him. Of course he wanted to do this: he couldn’t just wait in the background and let everyone else deal with the mess that _he_ had made.

“I’m sure.” Len nodded once and looked like he was about to start walking again, and so Barry put a hand on his chest to keep him still. “You don’t want me to?” Barry guessed and for a long moment Len remained silent. The moment stretched for so long that Barry didn’t think he was going to answer. But then…

“No.” The mask on Len’s face cracked a little bit and Barry could see genuine concern written across all of Len’s features. “I care about you, and I don’t like the idea of you risking your life for this.”

“It’s something I have to do,” Barry replied after swallowing down the lump forming in his throat.

“I know.” Len momentarily broke eye contact. His eyes dropped to the floor beneath their feet and when he looked back up, it was through his eyelashes. In that moment Leonard Snart looked truly vulnerable. Barry had only ever seen him look this way once before, back when he’d killed Lewis in the old timeline. “That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.” A light smirk brushed Len’s lips and his tone sounded playful all of a sudden. The worried look remained in his eyes.

Barry wasn’t sure why he did what he did next. It was on impulse. But also… something that he’d be yearning to do again for weeks. He cupped Len’s jaw with his right hand, and kissed him. It wasn’t exactly a lustful kiss, but it was filled with heat and unspoken emotions. Len followed Barry’s lead and inched closer, wrapping his arms around the younger man’s waist and slipping his tongue into his mouth.

They stayed like that for several minutes and when they finally came up for air, they didn’t move away from each other. Barry gently rested his forehead against Len’s and his thumb ran slow circles against Len’s jaw. They were quiet for a while as they caught their breath, and only _then_ did Len pull away. Though, he didn’t go far and was still able to keep his hands resting against Barry’s hip bones.

“What was that for?” Len eventually asked and Barry shrugged.

“No reason. It was just something I wanted to do,” Barry replied. “Is that okay?”

“Definitely,” Len answered quickly and Barry’s face broke out into a huge grin.

“Good. Because… I think I’m ready to take things a little faster,” Barry admitted.

“Kid, did you just make a pun?” Len smirked and Barry just grinned wider in reply. “You’re something else, Barry,” Len said, his voice simultaneously soft and teasing, before kissing him once more on the corner of his lips.

Barry tested the boundaries of this by taking Len’s hand off his waist and holding it. To his amazement, _and delight_ , Len didn’t seem to oppose the idea of holding hands.

“Cisco’s waiting for us,” Len said, his voice going flat again. Barry nodded and they started moving again. The weight of Len’s hand in his own made Barry feel warm on the inside, his heart racing as though he had just run a marathon.

They eventually rounded a corner and found Cisco and Wally chatting away next to the large machine that would, hopefully, give Barry his powers back.

“Great, you’re here,” Cisco commented once he saw them walk into the room. “Perfect timing. I just finished setting up the machine and now it’s ready to go.” Len’s hand dropped from his own and Barry mourned the loss for a moment before Cisco was ushering him forward and explaining the process. Not that he had to, Barry had done this all before. This time, though, Cisco had added a grounding mechanism so that Barry hopefully wouldn’t get sucked into the Speed Force and have to fight his way back out again. “Wally, will you do the honours?” Cisco asked, handing him the wand he’d made to help fight weather wizard, after making sure that Barry was correctly secured to the machine. Wally took it and nodded to Barry.

“Good luck,” he said before speeding away and up to the top of the building where he would soon use the wand to generate a lightning strike. Barry tried to relax, taking a deep breath to try to calm his racing heart, and made eye contact with Len across the room.

Len’s face was blank and his posture was stiff and closed. Barry put on a weak smile for him.

“I’ll be fine,” he said to his… boyfriend? Yeah, Len was his boyfriend. Len smiled back, and it was almost convincing. _Almost_. Seconds later there was the sound of thunder coming through the walkie talkie on Cisco’s desk, followed by Wally’s voice.

“Are you ready?” Wally asked. Cisco looked to Barry and Barry nodded.

“Yes we are, let’s get this over with.”

Seconds later Barry was surrounded with light and noise and _pain_. It was worse than he remembered it, the feeling of every molecule in his body tearing apart and rearranging. He’d thought that maybe he could hold back his screams this time around, for Cisco and Len’s sake, but he was wrong. He could just barely hear someone shouting his name but he just kept screaming, his eyes screwed shut and every nerve in his body feeling like it was on fire.

He didn’t know how long later it was until the pain began to ease up. But, soon, he stopped screaming. Soon, the lights stopped flickering behind his eyelids and the noise quietened. Soon, he was falling into someone’s arms. He felt weak and broken, barely managing to blink his eyes open as Len laid him onto the floor. He, Cisco, and Wally were all shouting but Barry couldn’t focus. His eyes fell closed again.

His mind felt fuzzy at first, but it eventually started to clear and strength began to return to him. When he next opened his eyes, he was still lying flat on his back on the floor and the three of them were kneeling around him in a semicircle.

“You okay, buddy?” Wally asked.

“I… yeah. I feel fine,” Barry realised. In fact, he felt more than fine, he felt _great_. Barry sat up and Cisco’s hands shot forward as though to stop him.

“Woah, I don’t think that’s a good idea; you should take it easy,” he said but Barry just waved his concerns away. His powers were back, they had to be, there was no way he could be feeling this great after what had just happened if his healing wasn’t back. To prove it, Barry lifted his hand and tried to vibrate it. The speedforce responded to him instantly and Barry let out a carefree laugh, overwhelmed with happiness to finally have this part of himself back.

“Neat trick,” Len drawled next to him. When Barry looked at him, his face was still completely blank. But, after a second, his features softened and Len offered Barry a hand to help him to his feet.

“It worked,” Barry laughed some more.

“Don’t say you were doubting me,” Cisco responded. They all stood up and Cisco moved behind his desk to retrieve a box, which he handed to Barry. It was large and flat, and when Barry opened it he saw a replica of his Flash suit inside. It was exactly how he’d described it to Cisco last week. “Welcome to the team, Flash.”

“I… thank you,” he said, too overwhelmed to think of anything better.

“You’re really feeling okay?” Len asked after a moment.

“Really. I am,” he nodded.

“You don’t want to sit down?” Cisco cautioned and Barry shook his head.

“Honestly, what I really want to do right now is run,” Barry admitted. It had been _so long_ since he’d last had his speed that he just wanted to test it out.

“How about a race around the city?” Wally offered and Barry nodded eagerly.

“That sounds great,” he agreed before turning to Len. “And maybe after we could grab some coffee?”

“No way,” Len responded. “After what you just put me through, Barry, you owe me a real date,” he announced.

“Deal,” Barry replied instantly and Len smirked.

“We're going to be quite the power couple, Kid,” he drawled.

“Oh, _great_ ,” Wally muttered before Barry got the chance to do more than smile back at Len. “I hate being the third wheel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I expanded this fic so much, I decided that there is now actually room to add some smut to this. But I thought I’d get your opinions on that before I made up my mind. So, please comment below and let me know whether you would prefer for this fic to remain rated Teen or if you’d prefer a rating change to explicit. 
> 
> Next update is planned for the 24th April, which is also the date of my first exam, but keep an eye out for the three fics I've written for coldflash week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little bit up and down and a lot of things happen in it. Hopefully it doesn't seem too rushed. Also, based on your comments, there has now been a rating change to explicit :)

“Rough night, Sweetie?” Nora Allen called as Barry stirred on the couch. It wasn’t the first time that he’d crashed as his parents’ house since waking up in this new timeline: he’d tried to settle into his new apartment, but everything was just too weird there. It was almost like he was living in someone else’s home… and he guessed he sort of was… he wasn’t truly the Barry of this timeline, though he was trying his hardest to assimilate.

Work was more fun than he’d thought it would be in a news station: it was just as fast-paced as working in the precinct had been. And it was even more amusing than he’d thought possible, watching everyone scramble to be the first with information on this new speedster superhero. Maybe he felt just a little bit like Peter Parker, from the Spiderman comics he’d read as a kid, when he volunteered to write the article on the Flash because he had a ‘ _source_ ’. It was fun.

But not as fun as actually being the Flash. He’d missed it all so much. And of course he now wasn’t alone, either, as he worked alongside Wally and Len.

Len…

They still hadn’t gone on that date yet. With all of the excitement this past week, the offer was still just hanging in the air. And now Barry worried that it was too late. Len wasn’t going to just hang around forever waiting for him, Barry knew that, but the more time that passed the more anxious Barry became.

Len hadn’t brought it up since… did that mean that he’d changed his mind about going on a date? Or did he think that _Barry_ had changed _his_ mind and was just respecting Barry’s wishes to ‘take things slow’? Damn, Barry was such an idiot.

“Are you okay, Barry?” His mother called over, bringing his mind back to the present. She looked concerned and Barry waved it away.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered as he got up from the couch, folding the blanket up as he thought. “It’s just…” Barry paused and swallowed thickly as he tried to come up with the words. He wanted to be open with his parents but coming out was always difficult. Remembering what his mum had said the first night in this timeline, he obviously hadn’t come out to her about his sexuality yet.

“Just?” Nora prompted.

“There’s this… guy,” Barry started and hoped she would catch on. From the look in her eyes, she knew exactly where this was going. Somehow, it still didn’t make things any easier. He shook his head and averted his gaze. “I’m not gay,” he muttered, knowing that was what is mum already assumed. “… But I am bisexual.”

“I’m happy that you feel comfortable enough to tell me,” Nora said softly and when Barry looked up she was wearing a warm smile. Barry smiled weakly in return as she took the blanket from him and refolded it. “So, tell me about this guy,” she said casually and Barry felt his cheeks heating up. Where did he even start to explain Len?

“He… has really blue eyes,” Barry muttered and his mother laughed.

“Did you meet him at work?” She asked as they moved into the kitchen.

“No, he…” Barry started and then paused. Where _did_ Len work? He’s not a thief in this timeline anymore so he had to have a job, right? How else could he afford the posh bike, the car, and the house? “I mean, sort of? I dropped my ID and he returned it to me at work.”

“Sounds like a good man,” she mused and Barry nodded.

“He is,” he confirmed. Even back in the old timeline, Len _was_ a good person. He was a good guy who had done some bad things, but Barry just _knew_ that there was good in there too. “But… I’m worried I might have ruined it.”

“Ruined it how?” She asked and Barry explained the situation to his mother as best as he could without mentioning timelines, time travel, or anything superhero related, actually. She hummed as she cooked breakfast and listened. “So, he asked you out and you said yes, but neither of you made any solid plans for the date and now you’re worried you’ve waited too long?” Nora summed up and Barry nodded. “Call him,” she insisted and Barry frowned.

“But, what if-”

“Don’t concern yourself with ‘ _what if_ ’s, Barry,” she said gently. “You’ll never know what will happen unless you just take that leap,” she advised and then pushed Barry’s phone towards him on the table.

“What? Right now?” He questioned and Nora Allen shrugged.

“No time like the present.” Barry’s hand hovered over the phone for a moment before he took a deep breath and picked it up. He excused himself from the room as he unlocked it and tried to come up with a good greeting in his head. It was early: only 8am on a Saturday… would Len even be up yet? Maybe he should just text instead? But then the ringing on the line stopped and Len voice rang through the phone.

“Hello?” He greeted and Barry froze ( _heh_ ), his words leaving him. “Barry?” Len asked, sounding more concerned.

“H- hi,” Barry finally managed. “I, uh… is it too early? I can ring back later?” He offered as his palms began to feel warm and sweaty.

“It’s not too early,” Len replied and Barry nodded to himself. God, he should have written something down because now he had no words. How was he supposed to ask someone out on the phone when he had no words?! And _why_ had this been so much easier last week when Barry was risking his life?

“I… movie?” Barry stuttered out. Len didn’t reply right away and that second pause made Barry nervous, feeling much longer to him now that he had his superspeed back. “Or… not. You know. We could go for dinner instead. Bowling? I like bowling. Do you like bowling? You probably don’t like bowling, do you?” Barry rambled. “So, maybe I could cook for you instead? Except, no, I’m a terrible cook. Please do not take me up on that offer. It will be a disaster.” _Kind of like this phone call is_ , Barry thought to himself as he cringed. He should just hang up, right?

“I don’t know, Barry. A home-cooked meal sounds nice,” Len teased.

“It won’t be,” Barry promised, perking up a little once he realised Len wasn’t shooting him down.

“How about I order takeaway?” Len offered, making Barry grin. “Are you free tonight?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m free,” Barry said. “I guess it’s a date then.”

“I hope so,” Len drawled and Barry laughed a little bit. “I’ll see you at mine around 6?” He offered and Barry nodded.

“I’ll be there,” he replied and hung up, grinning from ear to ear. He tried to tamper it down as he went back into the kitchen but the smile was like a permanent fixture on his lips at this point. His mother turned to him, taking in the smile and looking happy for him.

“He said yes?” She asked, though she already knew the answer, and Barry nodded.

“I’m seeing him tonight.”

[] [] []

“Does this count as our first date?” Barry asked as he dug into the chicken and pasta dish that he’d ordered. It was good and, most importantly for tonight, low on the garlic.

“Hmmm,” Len uttered. “I’d say it does. Unless, of course, you’re a ‘wait three dates until sex’ kind of guy. In which case, I think we are way passed that point,” Len deadpanned and Barry laughed.

“It feels like we’ve known each other forever,” Barry muttered, though maybe that was just him? He’d known the other Leonard Snart for much longer, after all… “But I realised today that I still don’t know much about you. Like, do you have a job?” Barry inquired, having become increasingly curious about that since his earlier conversation with his mother.

“Sort of,” Len replied after taking a sip of wine. “I own a bar downtown.”

“You do?” Barry responded, genuinely surprised.

“Yeah. I’m not down there much anymore, not since I became Citizen Cold, anyway. It’s not exactly the kind of place that a respectable citizen would find themselves in.”

“It’s Saints and Sinners, isn’t it?” Barry guessed and Len smiled slightly.

“I’m going to guess I was there much more frequently in your timeline, then?” Len questioned and Barry nodded.

“I never knew you owned the place,” Barry muttered. “Now it makes a lot more sense… wait, you stuck me with a bill there!” Barry remembered and Len laughed. “You made me pay for your food at your own bar?”

“Sounds like something I would do,” Len said unapologetically and took a bite of his meal. Barry, feeling a little bit nervous, didn’t like the quiet even when it was only brief. He looked around and saw the edge of the bookshelf visible from where he was sitting.

“You read a lot, huh?” He asked. “What’s your favourite book? I mean, not that I’ll necessarily recognise it because I’m still pretty new to this timeline,” Barry laughed and Len smirked at him. “What?”

“Did you google ‘questions for a first date’ or something?” Len drawled and Barry blinked at him, blushing.

“No. Wait… is that a thing?” He asked and immediately took out his phone and opened chrome. “Jesus, it’s a real thing. Why have I never thought of doing this before?” Barry muttered as he looked through the lists, Len just laughed. The sound still made Barry feel warm. “Okay, okay, this is a good one: salty snacks or desserts?” Barry read as seriously as he could muster. “Now, you have to be honest here, no lying to get on my good side.”

“Oh, so what I answer to this question will make or break the date?” Len asked, eyebrow cocked.

“You never know,” Barry laughed and Len smiled.

“Okay… I have a bit of a sweet tooth, but I try not to indulge too often,” Len replied and took his own phone out. “My turn…” Len muttered as he skim read the page. Barry took a final bite of his meal as he waited. “Okay, are you a dog person or a cat person? And, remember, honesty is key.” Barry laughed and took a sip of his drink before replying.

“Dog person, definitely.” He went back to his list. “If you could jump into a pool of anything, what would it be?”

“Is money an acceptable answer?” Len drawled. “Notes, not coins, that is.” Barry thought for a second and nodded.

“Sure, but the rules don’t say whether or not you get to keep it,” he said seriously and Len laughed.

“Either way, who _wouldn’t_ want to swim in a pool of money?”

“Is money even dense enough to swim through or would you just fall to the bottom?”

“It’s perfectly fine to swim through in my fantasies,” Len muttered and Barry barked out a laugh. “Okay, what things would you save if your apartment were on fire?” Len asked next.

“Can’t I just put out the fire with my arms?” Barry replied and Len smirked.

“No, that’s cheating.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Barry sighed dramatically. “I guess, I’d just rescue my food,” he replied and Len snorted a laugh, looking entirely convinced. “I don’t know,” Barry shook his head, “there’s nothing really in my apartment that I care about. Back in my old timeline, sure, but here? It doesn’t even feel like my stuff. Maybe I’d grab some books or my laptop?”

“No, I think you were on the ball with the food thing,” Len deadpanned and Barry rolled his eyes as he picked up his phone and scrolled a little more.

“Oh, jeez,” he laughed as he came across the perfect question. He sat forward and tried to put on a straight face, leaning his elbows on the table and trying to look like he was interviewing Len as he spoke: “if you could have any super power, what would it be?”

“Hmm,” Len considered, with only a slight twitch of his lips. “I’m kind of partial to fire right now…” Len teased, making Barry laugh again.

“Shut up,” Barry shook his head, “you’re supposed to be honest.”

“Then I guess some sort of ice power might be fun…” he allowed, his face breaking out into a smirk again. “Huh, according to this website, if I want to get you into bed tonight I should tell you that I’m taking a day off work tomorrow to chaperone my niece’s school trip.”

“Well, I’m convinced,” Barry laughed. “You would be the worst chaperone,” he said after a moment and Len looked fake-affronted.

“Apparently, my imaginary niece’s teachers would disagree with you,” he drawled. “You’re outnumbered here, Barry.” Len finished off his glass and then cleared the table. They retired to the living room to watch Netflix. There were still a lot of films that Barry had yet to watch: including, apparently, a few new James Bond films with Hugh Laurie as the main character.

Barry jumped at the chance to watch one those and Len only laughed as he clicked on the Netflix title. Barry felt a little warm inside at the sound and sat close to his boyfriend. He kept having to go over that term in his mind, _boyfriend_ , wondering whether it fitted them or not. Barry thought it did, especially now that they were going on real dates. Or, date. But Barry sure hoped there would be more to come… this was probably the best first date he’d ever been on.

They had barely gotten past the introductory song when Barry held his breath and leaned a little closer into Len’s space, pressed up against his side. Slowly, Len moved his arm to welcome Barry close and draped it over his shoulders. Barry let out the shaky breath he’d been holding then.

“What is the last vegetable you would ever want to be?” Barry asked quietly, feeling unsure what to do next, and Len barked out a laugh.

“Celery,” Len answered with certainty and Barry looked up at him. “I’m allergic to it, so it wouldn’t be very fun for me,” Len reasoned and Barry shook his head with a small smile on his lips. “I thought we were done with this game? I left my phone in the kitchen.”

“So did I,” Barry realised and shrugged. “I just remembered it from the list… I’m sorry, we can watch the film now.”

“Don’t apologise, Barry. I like spending time with you.”

“I like spending time with you, too,” Barry replied softly. Their faces were close now and Barry realised he’d been leaning in subconsciously. He paused and thought it through for a second before just going with it. He brought a hand up to Len’s face as he leaned in for a kiss. Their first kiss of the night, though most definitely not their first kiss ever. Over the past few months that Barry had been in this timeline, he and Len had shared exactly three kisses. Four, now. All of them made Barry feel weak at the knees.

But there had always been something stopping the previous kisses from going any further: whether it was Barry’s lingering feelings for Iris or the fact that they were in public…

But not this time. This time they were pressed up together against Len’s couch, completely alone. And Barry’s feelings for Iris? He couldn’t say that they were completely gone, but he’d been moving on. Day by day, moving onto _Len_. Speaking of on top of Len, that is exactly where Barry wanted to be right now.

Trying his best not to break the kiss, Barry shuffled and shifted around until he was straddling Len’s thighs. Len’s hands fell to Barry’s hips as the kiss deepened even more from the new angle. Len squeezed Barry’s ass and Barry moaned into his mouth, grinding his hips down as his dick hardened in his skinny jeans.

Barry’s mouth moved from Len’s, trailing down his neck in a fury of teeth of tongue. Len was wearing a button up shirt tonight which Barry was more than happy to undo in his search for more skin. He left searing, biting, kisses on his journey and Len’s hands were wandering up the back of Barry’s shirt, hot skin pressed against his naked back. Len bucked his hips up in search of friction and Barry bit down a little harder.

“That fake niece thing really worked, huh?” Len drawled and Barry laughed against his skin as he licked at the sore spot and sucked it into his mouth.

“Except, I don’t think we’ll be making it to your bed,” Barry responded after a moment and he knew Len was smirking even if he couldn’t see it, his attention focussed on Len’s collar bone instead as he sucked it raw and left a nice big bruise.

“I’m okay with that,” Len drawled, his voice hitching ever so slightly. One of Len’s hands slid down from Barry’s back and lowered to the button of his jeans. He slowly undid the button and zip, going slow enough either to drive Barry mad or to allow him a chance to back out of this. Barry didn’t know which it was, probably both, but he was definitely not stopping now.

He practically tore the next few buttons off Len’s shirt as Len slipped his hands down Barry’s pants and cupped him, only the thin fabric of Barry’s briefs separating their skin. Barry made a noise crossed between a whine and a moan as he bucked down into Len’s grasp.

“You make the _filthiest_ noises, Barry,” Len moaned, rubbing at Barry’s weeping erection. Barry had undone all of Len’s shirt buttons and was now working at his jeans. Barry could see Len’s outline through his pants now and was surprised by how big the other man was, feeling excited and needy as he realised Len was wearing nothing underneath his jeans. He absently noticed a few scars scattered across Len’s torso as he pulled Len’s cock free of his denim constraints, and it made his heart squeeze even as he was overcome with the sudden need to _taste_ him.

Barry swallowed thickly as he ground down against Len’s hand in his pants and milked some pre-come from Len’s dick.

“Have you got condoms?” Barry asked, _whined_ , and Len pulled Barry a little closer to his body, reaching around his to grab his wallet from the coffee table. Len pulled out a condom, which Barry took eagerly, slipping from Len’s lap to the floor at his feet. “I want to suck you off,” he said, already mourning the loss of Len’s fingers on him but fighting not to touch himself yet.

“Only if you fuck me afterwards,” Len bargained with a smirk and that made Barry’s cock twitch.

“Deal,” he laughed and opened the condom packet as Len pulled his own jeans further down his thighs to give Barry better access. Barry quickly slipped the condom on Len’s long, thick, member and felt the speedforce brewing just under his skin. Barry realised that this is the first time he could be completely open with a bedpartner ever since he’d gotten his superspeed. He didn’t have to hide part of himself from Len, didn’t have to hold back his vibrations.

Barry smirked as he lowered his mouth to Len’s covered cock. He sucked on Len’s head at first, not vibrating _yet_ , and Len moaned above him. Barry released him with a pop and licked a long, slow, strip along the underneath of Len’s cock. He repeated the action again and Len’s hand found his way to Barry’s hair. Barry liked the way that Len’s hand pulled slightly at his hair as he lowered his mouth back down on Len’s cock, still not going passed his head.

“Fuck, Kid,” Len moaned. “You’re killing me here.” Barry considered the sizable length of Len’s dick and wondered how much he would be able to take into his mouth. He slowly lowered his mouth further down and he could feel the muscle of Len’s thighs twitch as the older man resisted the urge to fuck up into Barry’s mouth. Barry took just a little more of him in before vibrating his tongue, pushed flat against the throbbing vein in Len’s cock. “Holy _crap_ ,” Len breathed, throwing his head back and his hips giving a small involuntary thrust.

Barry went back up and sucked on Len’s head, feeling proud of himself as he heard a litany of curses escape Len’s lip, and then he went back down. Again, he went just a little bit further down Len’s throbbing cock than he did before as his own cock pulsed in his pants, begging to be touched.

Barry was just about to start vibrating again when there came a sudden loud banging against Len’s door. Startled, Barry pulled off quickly and blinked up at Len. The knocking continued loudly and insistent.

“ _Len_!” Came Wally’s voice from outside, sounding frantic. Barry quickly moved off his partner and Len stood up, tucking himself back into his jeans quickly as he went to answer the door. Barry was right behind him. When Wally came in, his eyes found the mass of love bites across Len’s torso, still exposed because Len hadn’t gotten around to rebuttoning his shirt yet, and the mess that was Barry’s hair. He blushed as he realised what the two had been up to, but he didn’t make to leave. “Sorry for interrupting,” he muttered, embarrassed. “But I had no other choice. Neither of you were answering your phones.” He pushed past them into Len’s living room.

Wally grabbed the TV remote and switched from Netflix to the news, where an emergency bulletin was playing. Barry felt cold as he stared at the screen, all thought of sex having left him completely to be replaced with nausea.

“… What is this?” Barry asked, hoping to God that it was some kind of sick joke. But the look on Wally’s face told him it was all too true. Hundreds of nuclear missiles had been launched from every military base across the globe, some of them having just struck their targets: the casualties were likely in the millions. Barry felt sick as he realised what was happening. “ _Genesis_.”

Barry had been dealing with Zoom at the time and hadn’t known about the nuclear missiles until Team Arrow had already stopped them, but Felicity had filled him in on what happened back in the old timeline. H.I.V.E. had been trying to clean the earth, led by a man named Darhk. _Damien Darhk_ , Barry realised suddenly… he’d been seeing the news reports on Star City for months now but he’d never connected the new Mayor to the man who’d tried to end the world! That hadn’t exactly been the part of the subject he’d been focussing on after learning that Star City had been destroyed and all his friends murdered.

Barry collapsed back into the sofa. This couldn’t be happening. Barry should have paid more attention to the news reports. He should have realised that the Arrow wasn’t there to stop Darhk this time and so _of course_ he was still continuing with his plan. He should have done _something_!

But now it was too late.

“We need to go back to STAR Labs,” Wally was saying and Barry felt numb as he nodded along. He scooped Len up in his arms as he ran to the labs where Cisco was busy trying to hack into the missile guidance to disable some of them. But it was no use, he wasn’t a hacker in the same way that Felicity was.

Felicity! She could stop this! She already had done before… Barry didn’t know what kind of tech she had access to now, but he could bring her back to STAR Labs and she could stop the rest of the missiles, Barry was sure of it. Except…

That wouldn’t bring back the millions of lives which had already been taken.

“There’s a missile heading right for Central,” Cisco told them. “It’ll be here in less than ten minutes.”

“Is there nothing we can do? What about the Atom? Can’t she deactivate some of them?” Len demanded. The Atom, Jean Loring, Ray Palmer’s former fiancé who had taken on the Atom suit after Ray was killed when Slade Wilson’s mirakuru army stormed Star City.

He’d met her twice now: the time in the alleyway when she’d saved him from being mugged but ended up going a little too far trying to take down the mugger, and again a couple of days ago when she showed up at the labs for an upgrade to her suit. She hadn’t exactly been happy to see Barry again and he’d felt even more guilty once she found out how Barry had known Ray. That, in Barry’s timeline, it had been her who had died in Star City, not the other way around. Her anger at him hadn’t done anything to help the guilt that was already floating inside him. And now… now the whole God damn world was in danger. All because Barry had wanted his parents back. It was all his fault.

None of these deaths would have happened if he hadn’t created this timeline. Barry rubbed at his head, he felt like he was going to throw up. He had to undo this. But… _God_ , even now Barry was reluctant to. He was selfish, but he couldn’t stand the idea of losing his parents again. And Len… Len hated Barry in the old timeline… they would never be together again. He had to do it. But he didn’t _want_ to.

Barry was quiet in the room, watching the other three men try to come up with a way to save people lives. Len must have noticed his silence, realised what Barry had been thinking, because he was looking at Barry in a way that broke his heart. He _knew_ what Barry had to do. They were out of options: the world was crashing a burning around them and soon it would be too late for Barry to change anything. Len moved away from Wally and Cisco, he gently took Barry’s arms and guided him towards the corner of the room so that they could talk.

“I don’t want to lose my parents,” Barry whispered, his voice broken. Len’s shirt was still unbuttoned and the bruises that Barry had left on his skin just half an hour ago were on show, a brutal reminder to Barry of what he was about to lose. “And… and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Barry, I can’t begin to imagine how hard this is for you,” Len said softly. “But if you don’t change this then you’re going to lose your parents anyway, along with a lot of innocent people.”

“I know. I… I know.”

“And as for losing me… that’s not going to happen,” he said with a weak smile, his thumb rubbing soothing circles in Barry’s skin as he spoke.

“We’re enemies in the other timeline. You don’t love me there,” Barry muttered and still somehow managed to feel embarrassed, despite the general numbness that had surrounded him for the past few minutes. “I mean, no. Forget I said anything about love. I didn’t mean to…”

“Barry Allen,” Len interrupted. “It would take an _idiot_ not to love you.” Barry was holding back tears now, and he had a feeling Len was too, there was a lump in his throat that was stopping him from speaking and so he did the only other things that he could: he kissed Len. It was completely different to their other kisses. There was nothing heated or eager in this, it was just a simple brush of lips.

A goodbye.

“Now go save the world,” Len whispered to him and Barry nodded. He was shaking as he pulled away. He spared a glance to Cisco and Wally, who had both also put together what Barry was about to do, as he ran away. His heart broke more with every step. He’d just finally managed to find a place for himself in this new timeline, with Len and his parents, and now it was being torn from him.

It took Barry a while to build up enough speed to time jump, so long that Barry was worried he didn’t have the speed in him anymore, but eventually he entered the time stream… just as the missile destroyed Central City, taking the lives of his parents from Barry once again. He was crying as he went back in time once more to stop himself from saving Nora Allen’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It really hurt to destroy this timeline. But I’ve been saying since the beginning that this flashpoint is based more on the cartoon, where it’s a World War 3 type disaster, than the TV show. Plus, when an alternate universe/timeline is used in fanfics I much rather prefer it when the POV character returns to their own universe’s version of the other half of the OTP.
> 
> Also, I had originally meant for Wally to interrupt them when they were still mid make-out and before anything could happen, but I felt like the taste of smut made Len’s confession at the end all that more bitter-sweet and believable? I don’t know, it was a spur of the moment addition so I hope you think that it fit well.
> 
> My exams are (mostly) over now and so I'll try to get back to my regular updates.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose at this point you won’t really believe me when I say that this is one of the fluffiest fanfics I’ve ever written? Or, it will be, anyway. You just gotta hang in there for more fluff…
> 
> Not all that much really happens in this chapter, sorry. This part somehow ended up being over 2k more than it was supposed to be so I had to split the chapter into 2 because it was just too long.

Barry was surrounded by blackness, emptiness. It was as peaceful as the last time, despite the inner turmoil of emotions swimming inside of him. He didn’t fight as the darkness consumed him, no matter how much he wanted to kick and scream and stay in a timeline where his parents were alive and happy. He knew what to expect this time when splashes of light and colour filled his vision as the timeline reset itself. He recognised the increasingly loud white noise and the brightness that stung at his eyes which wouldn’t go away.

This time, when Barry woke up, he just screwed his eyes closed further. Nausea built in his stomach and his heart raced erratically, but Barry didn’t want to face this new (or, technically, old) world now. He yearned for that blissful naivety that he’d felt the first time after changing the timeline, how he hadn’t realised right away that this was all real and not just a dream.

Barry didn’t feel that way now. He _knew_ that this was no dream. He clearly remembered merging with his past self, the one who had saved his mother, and crying as he stood outside his childhood home and allowed Eobard Thawne to kill Nora Allen, _again_.

Barry wished he could live in denial for a little while, but he couldn’t. The pain in his chest didn’t go away and so Barry slowly opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed in Joe’s house. If last night had gone as planned, then maybe Barry would have woken up wrapped inside Len’s arms, feeling sated and happy… But that was a different life, a different Barry Allen. Memories were all he had now of that timeline.

Barry blinked away tears and reached for his phone. He felt confused for a moment when his fingers wrapped around an iPhone… these hadn’t existed in the other timeline, Barry had almost forgotten he owned one here. He clicked the button at the top to unlock the screen and took note of the date: May 25th… the morning after he’d defeated Zoom.

It had been August 13th when Barry had been forced to reset the timeline again. Barry had managed to steal over two months with his parents. And with Len. Barry dropped the phone back down onto his side table and buried his head further into his pillow. He stayed in that position for another five minutes before he finally scrubbed at his face and sat up. He’d lost a lot of people in his life, it never got any easier, but he’d learnt that wallowing in self-pity was the worst thing he could do for himself.

He was grieving (and now it was even worse than it had been before. Because he wasn’t just grieving his dad’s murder, anymore, but he was re-grieving his mother’s and the loss of the relationship he’d had with Len), but he had to get out of bed. He had to have a shower and get dressed, eat breakfast even. He couldn’t let himself break down now. He had to continue to function. So, that was what Barry did: he got up, showered, dressed, and went downstairs.

And Joe was standing in the kitchen.

Joe smiled at him and Barry broke. He didn’t even think it through, he just rushed to Joe’s side and hugged him. His foster-father let out a quiet ‘ _oof_ ’ as Barry tackled him, but didn’t say anything. Joe wrapped his arms around Barry’s and hugged him back, allowing Barry to cry on his shoulder. Joe probably assumed that this was to do with Henry Allen’s death… and it _was_ … partially, anyway. It was everything! An overload of emotions which included the relief of having Joe back in his life.

Joe had been so _angry_ with him in the other timeline. Wally had tried to help Barry smooth things out with the other man… but it had been a slow start. Joe was a true father figure in Barry’s life, someone he _truly_ cared for and loved, and not having that same relationship with Joe in the past timeline had _hurt_. But Joe had been so angry with Barry before. Joe and… _crap_.

Iris!

She wasn’t married in this timeline. She didn’t have an adorable daughter. She wasn’t angry with Barry for destroying Joe’s career. She was… she was _in love_ with Barry. And Barry was in love with her too… right?

He was. Of _course_ he was. This was _Iris_ he was thinking about… how could Barry even _question_ that he was in love with her? Images of Len flashed through Barry’s mind: of Len’s smile, his eyes, his laugh… his erect weeping cock, which Barry had been sucking on less than two hours ago…

Right…

Barry definitely had some things to sort out before he could see either Iris or Len again. Not that Len would be looking for him. Not here. Not in this timeline. He was _Captain_ Cold… not Citizen Cold. They were the same person, but they _weren’t_. Len didn’t care about him in the same way he had in the other timeline.

God, this whole multiple timelines thing was more confusing now than ever. Barry finally managed to pull away and Joe handed him a plate of food. He ate it quickly without even bothering to sit down. If he sat down at that table with Joe right now, then Joe would want to _talk_. Barry didn’t want to talk, not about his father, not about the alternate timeline, not about anything. He quickly washed his plate, leaving it on the drying rack and announcing he was going to the precinct.

“You’re going into work on your day off?” It was Barry’s day off? Right. Of course it was. His dad’s funeral had only been a couple of days ago… even if it had felt like months ago to him.

“I, er, have paperwork,” Barry lied. Was it a lie? Barry couldn’t remember what jobs he’d left unfinished in this timeline. Whatever the state of his cases, Barry need a distraction and work was a great one.

“Okay, Son,” Joe said slowly, not looking convinced in the slightest. “Just don’t work too hard.” Barry just nodded his head before zipping away. He didn’t go directly to the precinct though, making a turn for STAR Labs instead.

It was quieter here now than it was in the last timeline, now that it was no longer open for business. And yet that didn’t put him off, if anything it was another relief. And it wasn’t all quiet, anyway. Barry zipped directly into the cortex where Cisco was leaning back in his chair, feet on the desk, and Cait hovered nearby. They were arguing. Except, there was no bite in either of their voices. _Bickering_ may have been a better term.

“Civil war was _not_ as good as the Winter Soldier, Caitlin! How can you even _say_ that?” Cisco asked, looking fake-alarmed. Cait just crossed her arms in disapproval.

“You’re just saying that because you’re Team Iron Man and Iron Man lost,” she countered and Cisco gasped.

“No one won in that film," he said sullenly. "But at least _we_ tried to prevent the fighting and live by the _law_ , Caitlin! Your guy didn’t even tell the rest of his team about Tony’s offer,” Cisco scoffed and then noticed Barry standing in the doorway. “Barry, back me up here!”

Barry barely resisted hugging them too. If they had been standing next to each other then he might have just initiated a group hug. As it was, he just gave a wistful smile. He’d missed his friends and their dynamic, grateful to have Cait back, but it was tinged with the sadness of leaving the other timeline.

“How are you holding up?” She asked him softly, dropping the argument with Cisco.

“I’m… I’m not doing so good,” he admitted and she nodded her understanding. Except, she didn’t _truly_ understand. She couldn’t know how much Barry had just lost. And it wasn’t something Barry felt like sharing, either. But he _should_. He took a deep breath and dropped his eyes to the floor before speaking. “There’s something I should tell you guys,” he said slowly and sat down. He looked down at his hands as he spoke, but he knew that he had both Cisco and Cait’s attentions.

“What happened, Barry?” Cait asked after a moment and Barry stopped picking at his fingers so that he could scrub his face instead. He finally lifted his head back up to look at his friends.

“After we defeated Zoom, I wasn’t really in the mood to celebrate,” he told them. Cait looked like she was going to say something and so he continued quickly, trying to get this all out in the open as soon as possible. “I wasn’t really thinking clearly and so I ran back in time, back to when I was a kid, and I stopped Thawne from killing my mum.” Cisco and Cait remained quiet as Barry powered through this. “I created another timeline, one where both of my parents were alive and…” Barry bit his tongue. How would they react if he told them about his relationship with Len? Barry shook his head. “And I lived in it for a few months. It kind of blew up, though. Literally,” Barry huffed, but he felt no humour about it. “So, I reset it. I just… thought you guys should know.”

“What was it like there?” Caitlin asked, looking curious.

“It was…” Barry thought about Len again. “Different.”

“ _Good_ different?” Cisco continued for her. “Outside of your parents being alive, that is.” Barry didn’t know how to reply. On one hand, he’d had his parents back, he’d had Len, he’d had a superhero team. On the other hand, Star City was barely more than a crater, crime rates had skyrocketed, and most of his friends were either dead or hated him.

“I… parts of it were good,” he eventually replied. He paused and shook his head. “But the world was a lot more brutal there than it is here.”

“So, it…” Cisco started and paused, looking unsure whether to finish his sentence. “It was kinda like… a flashpoint?”

“Flashpoint?” Barry repeated and the engineer nodded.

“Yeah. You know, an event filled with violence and conflict: a flashpoint. That’s what we could name it,” Cisco shrugged and Barry smiled faintly. Flashpoint… _sounded like something Len would have come up with_ , he thought but didn’t say. Caitlin looked like she was going to chide Cisco about his timing but Barry just nodded and silently agreed to the name. At least it would make this whole situation easier to think and talk about. The room was silent for a little while before Barry spoke up again.

“On the bright side, at least I got another two months with my parents.” On the downside, he’d just had to suffer the loss of both of them at the same time… Barry left that part unsaid. “I should get to work,” he said suddenly, standing up. Cisco copied him and looked concerned.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Caitlin asked carefully.

“Yeah, Man, after what you just told us…” Cisco continued for her. “Maybe you should have some more time off?” Barry shook his head: he needed normalcy right now and easing himself back into this timeline with a few hours of paperwork would do him some good.

“I’ll be fine,” he brushed off and left before either of them decided to talk him out of it.

[] [] []

It turned out he didn’t have any unfinished paperwork. After his father’s death, the other CSIs had taken over and finished it all for him. Which was kind of them… but it didn’t suit Barry’s agenda well. After a bit of sulking at his desk, Barry decided it was time to clean and calibrate all the machines in his lab. He did it at normal, human, speed so that it could take up a good portion of his day, and the repetitive nature of the dull tasks was calming.

At one point, his phone rang. Barry looked down at the caller ID and was filled with a nervous energy. It was Iris. Barry chewed at his lip as he thought over his options. Did he want to speak to her? No, forget that, it was a stupid question: of _course_ Barry wanted to speak to her. But did he want to speak to her as a friend or as… _more_? Barry just… he didn’t know what he wanted anymore. He didn’t know _who_ he wanted.

Barry let the call go to voicemail.

It probably hadn’t been important, anyway. She had a button on her phone in case of emergencies so she would have used that if she was in any danger. Barry waited, but his phone didn’t light up again. It _definitely_ couldn’t have been important if she didn’t try to call again. Barry felt guilty ignoring her, anyway. But he just _couldn’t_ speak to Iris until he knew where he stood: he didn’t want her to think he had any doubts about them being together, but he also didn’t want to lead her on if he was just going to choose Len.

Barry tried to go back to work after that, but his calm had been disrupted and he couldn’t seem to get his mind off of his problems now. Creating that timeline… creating _Flashpoint_ … it had messed with his plans. He’d only ever pictured himself growing old with Iris. But, seeing her there with her husband and daughter, happy without Barry… He hadn’t known at the time that he’d be undoing Flashpoint, he thought that he’d truly missed his chance to be with her and forced him to move on.

And being with Len had just made so much sense at the time. It had been easier than he thought possible to fall for Leonard Snart… he’d tried to deny it at first, but he could picture a future with Len. And now he was caught at a crossroads, struggling to decide which path to choose.

Barry sighed and put down the virkon he was using to clean his lab. He could finish this later because right now he needed fresh air. It was a sunny and warm day outside, the exact opposite of how Barry was feeling, so he decided to go for a walk. An _actual_ walk. He had too much on his mind right now to go for a run. Last time he’d tried to use his superspeed as a way to sort through his issues, he ended up running flat into a building… he didn’t exactly feel like repeating that incident.

Barry didn’t really pay attention to _where_ he was going, just letting his feet carry him through the city. It wasn’t like he could get lost here: since becoming the Flash he had ran through these streets a hundred times over.

The bustle of the city soon quietened as Barry walked further and further away from the main streets and parks. He’d wanted Iris for _so long_ before Flashpoint. He’d fantasised about marrying her, having 2.5 kids, moving to a little house in the suburbs in a good school district. He could still have that wit Iris. And if he hadn’t made Flashpoint, then maybe he would be with her right now: together and getting ready for a future together. But he couldn’t just _ignore_ his feelings for Len and what they’d had together in Flashpoint.

It wasn’t fair to himself and it wasn’t fair to Iris. Barry knew that his mind was spiralling again and again around the same issue without making any leeway, but he couldn’t snap out of it. He felt like he just needed to get it all out, he just needed…

Barry didn’t click to where his feet were taking him until he was already there, standing in front of Central City’s Cemetery.

He needed his mum.

Barry walked through the cemetery, moving past the older and ornate headstones that had sat there for the past hundred years or so, and made his way towards the far-left plot where his mother and father were buried side by side. For a while, standing in front of their headstones, Barry forgot about his relationship troubles and just grieved his parents.

He sat down in between their graves and thought about them. They were good people: they didn’t deserve any of this. In that moment, Barry couldn’t bring himself to regret Flashpoint. He’d tried to give them another chance to live happy and long lives, the chance that they _deserved_. And even though he was in more pain now, he knew that those extra months of memories would bring him happiness one day.

For a long time, Barry remained silent. But, eventually, his mind drifted back to the conversation he’d shared with his mother just yesterday morning. The conversation where she had encouraged Barry to call Len and ask him out. And thinking about Len brought back his dilemma.

“Iris loves me,” he whispered. He didn’t believe in the paranormal, didn’t think that his mother could actually _hear_ him, but he said it aloud anyway. “She told me that she’d wait for me because she loves me. And I love her too. Or, I used to love her. It’s changed a little over the past year, since Eddie sacrificed himself... I guess I started to lose hope that she would ever feel the same way. But I know I could love her again: so, so easily… and I _want_ to. Me and Iris make sense!

“… Unlike me and Len. In Flashpoint, sure! He was a hero. But… Len’s a criminal here. And it’s completely inappropriate to have these feelings for him. I know that I shouldn’t feel this way, but I do.” Barry sighed and scrubbed at his face. His mum had always had such great advice and Barry only wished that she could pass on some of that wisdom to him now. “I miss you,” he said into the dirt. “Both of you.”

With one last look at his parents’ graves, Barry stood up. He picked up two pebbles from nearby, brushing the dirt off of them, and placed one on each headstone. Barry turned back to the precinct.

He went back to sorting his lab, dodging Captain Singh and anyone else who might stop him to offer their condolences or insist he have more time off. He was there for barely an hour when Iris showed up.

Her long black hair was loosely braided to the side, her green dress and heeled ankle boots showing off her long legs. Barry was always bowled over by how gorgeous she was, and today was no different. She gave him a soft smile as she knocked on the open door.

“Hey, Bear,” she greeted. “You busy?”

“I… erm…” he looked around his lab as though something there could give him the answer for his heart trouble. “No, not busy,” he eventually settled on. He’d been hoping to, at least temporarily, avoid Iris… but he didn’t have it in him to turn her away now that she was here. She took a few steps into lab. She looked so peaceful and radiant; Barry couldn’t look her in the eye any longer. He averted his gaze back to his cleaning supplies.

“How are you feeling?” She asked. And wasn’t that the million dollar question…

But he knew she wasn’t asking about them. Iris was just genuinely concerned for Barry. Because she was a good friend, a good person. Because she loved him. Barry’s stomach flipped uneasily.

“I’m doing fine,” he brushed off. Iris stayed quiet for a long time, too long. She knew him better than anyone, another reason why _Iris_ was the perfect choice, she knew that something was wrong. Barry couldn’t take the silence any longer and eventually met her gaze once more. But only briefly before the weight of her eyes on his became too much and he had to look away again.

“If this is about our kiss…” she said slowly and Barry balked. His head snapped back up to look at her, stumbling back ever so slightly and bumping into a tray on his table. The tray wobbled momentarily on the edge of the table before toppling over. Barry caught it before it could clang against the floor. Iris only took his reaction as confirmation that whatever was bothering him had something to do with _them._ “Barry, I told you: it’s okay that you’re not in the right place for us right now. I’ll wait for you.”

And there it was: the knife in his gut. She was all-in for their relationship, and here Barry was falling for another guy.

“I know.” His reply was barely above a whisper. He _had_ to figure this whole thing out soon. Because as it was, Barry genuinely didn’t know who he was going to choose. For a moment, he considered sitting down and making a pros and cons list for choosing Iris over Len… but he soon dismissed the idea: just look how well that had worked out for Ross and Rachel! Barry had no urge to repeat the mistakes of anyone from a fictional TV show.

And, anyway, this was a matter of the heart not the head. Barry realised right in that moment that he wouldn’t be able to think this through. Love wasn’t logical! He was going about this all wrong: avoiding them was the wrong answer, he had to spend time with them here in this timeline and let his heart decide.

“Do you want me to leave?” She asked slowly and Barry instantly shook his head.

“Stay,” he said, feeling a little more sure of his answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8 will be posted later this week! Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts so far :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole fic was planned out well before season 3 aired which is why there are a lot of difference between this and the current canon. Like, for example, how Barry doesn’t know about Len working with the Legends. I did momentarily consider changing some of my plan to fit with show’s canon, but decided against it in the end.
> 
> Also, I really did try to add some semi-romantic westallen scenes to this. But it’s just not my ship so I kept drawing a blank. Sorry if that throws off the pacing of the chapter and makes it come across as though Barry is already choosing Len over Iris: at this moment in the fic, he is still very much unsure who he wants to be with.

Barry and Iris had talked for most of that evening, the conversation never going near their kiss, Zoom, or Barry’s parents again. It felt good. He’d felt a little bit like a fish out of water for a while, returning back home after Flashpoint and having experienced a new world. Barry didn’t tell Iris that though, not yet. He would tell her soon, but Barry didn’t want to talk about Flashpoint yet, he just wanted to relax and be himself.

When Iris eventually left, Barry felt like he had a new sense of direction. He thought about going home and waiting until tomorrow to act on his plan… but he was eager to forge onwards. He knew now that he couldn’t cut Iris out or pretend he didn’t want Len. Barry would only be able to figure this out if he spent time with _both_ of them, which he reminded himself as he ran from the precinct to STAR Labs.

Barry had texted Cait and Cisco earlier that day to say he was going to have the night off, so he expected them to have already gone home by now. That wasn’t the case. Barry was surprised to see his two friends lounging in their chairs and watching the Winter Soldier on one of the large screens in the room. The both looked his way once he entered the cortex.

“Oh, hey, Man. I thought we were having the night off?” Cisco asked as Bucky caught Captain America’s shield on screen.

“Yeah…” Barry muttered and rubbed at the back of his neck. “We are. I just wanted to check something.” He looked back at the computers and swore internally when Cisco stood up, moving towards them. “It’s okay,” Barry continued, “you can keep watching the film.”

“Nah, Dude, don’t worry about it. What do you want?” Cisco asked as he took a seat.

Well, crap.

“… I want to find Leonard Snart,” Barry admitted, trying not to look too guilty as he said it.

“What’s Snart done?” Caitlin piped up, her back now to the film as she turned to face them.

“Nothing,” Barry said quickly. “I mean, erm…” _Crap_. How was he going to explain this to them? “Len…ard was...” _my friend? My lover? Boyfriend? Potentially the man of my dreams?_ “He was a hero in Flashpoint,” Barry settled on and hoped that it would be a good enough explanation for why Barry wanted to talk to him. Thankfully, Cait and Cisco both looked appropriately surprised and mollified with Barry’s answer.

“ _Captain Cold_ was a _hero_?” Cisco repeated, even as his fingers typed quickly across the keyboard to bring up the locator and start tracking the cold gun.

“What are you planning to say to him?” Cait asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” Barry replied honestly.

“Well, whatever you decide on is going to have to wait,” Cisco added, after a brief lull in the conversation, sitting up straighter in his chair. “I’m not picking up any trace of the cold gun yet, he obviously hasn’t used it lately. I’ll keep the tracker going though and let you know when we get a location.”

“Thanks, Cisco,” Barry said and then left them to their film.

[] [] []

Another day came and went and Cisco still hadn’t caught any trace of the cold gun in Central City. Iris, on the other hand, was blowing up his phone with texts: even more than was normal for them. It was… odd. This complete radio silence from Len while Iris was going out of her way to make sure Barry was okay, she even brought around a couple of tubs of ice cream and a few of their favourite comedies to watch while Joe was at the precinct (she’d even taken a sick day at work for it and everything!), it was the complete opposite of what he'd gotten used to during Flashpoint.

And yet… that realisation only made Barry even _more_ antsy to find Len. He managed to put it out of his mind though as he sat with Iris and laughed at the films she had brought over.

“That is just you before and after getting your powers, Barry,” Iris cried during Hot Fuzz while watching Simon Pegg’s character hop the fences easily as Nick Frost’s character floundered after him.

“Oh no, I was much worse than that,” Barry laughed and Iris shrugged her acceptance as she dug out another spoonful of cookie dough ice cream. He was comfortable with Iris and Barry’s mind was running overtime trying to figure out whether it was a ‘best friends’ kind of comfortable or the ‘boyfriend/girlfriend’ kind.

“Your cuteness made up for it,” she replied lightly and Barry grinned around his mouthful of ice cream. Once the movie was over, Iris gathered up her things and said goodnight. She looked like she was going to lean in to kiss Barry’s cheek goodbye but decided against it at the last moment; Barry was simultaneously relieved and disappointed by that. He tried not to think too hard about it, though. Right now Barry was trying to just do whatever came naturally around Iris without overthinking it too much.

And if he ever found Len again then he would be doing the same thing around him too. At that thought, Barry picked up his phone to check for a text for Cisco. He had no new notifications. Barry was getting antsy again thinking about Len. He bit his lip as he typed out a text for Cisco.

To: **Cisco  
** Sent: **7:25pm  
Hey. ****Any news on Cold?**

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

From: **Cisco  
** Received: **7:25pm  
** **Nothing yet. We’ll keep checking**

Barry sighed as he looked down at his phone. He was usually more patient than this… he _knew_ that it was difficult tracking Len sometimes and that this was nothing to worry about, except… Except that, thinking about it over the past few days, Barry realised that he hadn’t seen anything of Captain Cold since Christmas.

He’d been a little preoccupied with Zoom before to notice Cold’s absence, but now he was getting worried. What if this lasted for months? Could Barry _really_ wait that long to talk to Len again? No, he couldn’t. Barry needed to find him _now_. He needed to make sure that Len was okay. And he needed to find out whether _they_ were even an option in this timeline, so he could decide whether he wanted to pursue a relationship with Len or with Iris.

There was only one other person who Barry knew that might be able to find Len for him. It took Barry nearly two hours to run all the way to Star City, it was a run he’d done many times in the past and which usually calmed him. Not tonight, though. Tonight, Barry was still bouncing on the balls of his feet with nervous energy after he entered the arrow cave. He surprised Felicity, who gave a shout when Barry was suddenly standing right in front of her.

“Jeez, Barry. Warn a girl next time,” she laughed and there was that brightness in her eyes and smile that had been missing during Flashpoint. It loosened a knot in his shoulders that Barry hadn’t even been aware still existed.

“Sorry, Felicity,” he said softly and then shook himself out of it. He went to take a seat but then changed his mind and started pacing back and forth in front of his friend instead. “I, er, I was hoping you could help me with something…” Barry started from the beginning and explained about Flashpoint, stumbling over the part about Len and settling on telling her the same half-truth that he’d told Cisco and Caitlin, avoiding the whole fact that he and Len had been together.

“What do you need me to do?” She asked happily and Barry shrugged.

“I was thinking you might be able to, I don’t know, find and hack his bank account or something?” Barry asked. At least that way Barry would know that, one, Len was okay and, two, whether he was still In Central. Felicity thought about it for a moment before nodding.

“Okay, sure,” she replied slowly. “I’m just going to need a list of things he’s stolen recently and the dates.” She wasn’t really asking Barry for that information, though, already hacking into Central City’s police database. She got what she needed and then hacked several different banks. Barry sat back silently and watched as she matched the approximate price Len would have gotten for each item against ingoings in the banks’ databases.

After a few minutes, Felicity had a list of potential bank accounts that could belong to Leonard. She narrowed it down further based on his outgoings: what they were plus their location. Eventually, she had three bank accounts that she believed to belong to Leonard Snart.

“I can’t see any recent outgoings or withdrawals in any of these accounts,” Felicity muttered. “None from the past few months, actually.”

“What does that mean?” Barry asked, feeling his stomach drop with worry.

“Probably that he has another bank account that I haven’t found yet. I’ve been on the case for all of ten minutes, Barry. I’m not _that_ good,” Felicity laughed. Barry wanted to relax at that, but something felt _wrong_. “I’ll look a little closer and try to find his other bank accounts,” Felicity promised and Barry nodded his thanks before running away.

[] [] []

The next day, Barry still hadn’t heard anything new back from Felicity or Cisco yet. He was patrolling the city and trying to keep his mind busy, though he dearly missed his team with Wally and Len during Flashpoint. Being the only superhero was _okay_ , but he’d found over the years that a team-up was much more fun. And it didn’t help that he _still_ hadn’t heard from Len. He missed him and he was getting worried by now. Barry just finished stopping a bank robbery when Cisco piped up over the comms.

“Hey, Barry. _Golden Glider_ is making a commotion a few blocks away,” Cisco announced.

Lisa.

If anyone could tell Barry where Len is, it was Lisa. The only question is, _would_ she? Barry got the address from Cisco and raced there quickly. His heart was beating fast at the thought of seeing Len again. Barry wondered if it showed on the suit monitors. He wondered if Cait would be able to figure out whether he was excited or scared. If she _could_ tell, Barry sure hoped she would tell _him,_ because he genuinely didn’t know how he felt.

When Barry got to the location, Lisa was alone on the street. Or, she _looked_ to be alone, anyway. But the way she was _acting_ … she was on one of the main roads, shops either side of her, but she didn’t look like she was trying to steal from any of them. She was shooting up their windows, the water fountain down the block, the pavement, any passing cars… covering them in that shimmering gold-like substance.

She looked like she was trying to draw attention… like she was a distraction, maybe. So, did that mean…? Was Len out in Central right now stealing something? Barry didn’t know how he felt about that.

When Barry skidded to a stop, he told Cait and Cisco to keep an ear on the police scanner for any big robberies or anything that sounded like Heatwave or Captain Cold. Barry had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying _Citizen_ Cold.

“Golden Glider!” Barry called. Lisa Snart stood a little straighter as she turned to face him. There was a smirk on her lips that told Barry she’d been waiting for him.

“You’re getting _slow_ , Flash. I’ve been here for almost five minutes already.”

“I thought pun were your brother’s thing,” Barry called back. Her smile grew, thought it was much darker than Barry was expecting. It unsettled him.

“They were,” she said, a hardness to her voice. “Let’s just call this a homage.” Before Barry could think about her choice of words, Lisa was firing at him. And she wasn’t holding back, either. Barry barely had time to get out of her way. She fired again instantly and Barry had to duck behind a car. These weren’t warning shots: she was aiming to kill.

He ran to another spot to dodge a blast from the gold gun, realising too late that Lisa was herding him. She fired three more consecutive shots, one of which landed its mark on the side of Barry’s ribcage, spreading across his chest. The liquid gold hardened, breaking his emblem which reduced his comms to white noise and restricting his ability to breathe. Barry took cover, panting for breath that wouldn’t come. The substance was still setting and Barry panicked.

He vibrated quickly, hoping to break up the gold-like substance before it could spread any more or become completely solid. It worked! Not perfectly, the gold that had already solidified was still restricting his breathing, but it was cracked now and some parts had come away from his suit completely.

He only had a few seconds to rest before he had to run again. Barry tried to come up with a way to get the gun out of her hands. But it was difficult. He couldn’t hurt Lisa. Not just because he didn’t _like_ hurting people, but because Len loved his sister more than anything. He would never forgive Barry if he accidentally broke her wrist, for example.

No, Barry had to come up with a way to disarm Lisa without hurting her. But it was much easier said than done. Barry ran around in circles for a few more minutes, trying to dodge the blasts from her gun.

“Why are you doing this?” He called when he paused behind another car, trying to catch his breath and think up a plan. He was running again as she answered.

“Because you _killed_ my brother,” Lisa sneered, shocking Barry enough that he slowed down and was unable to dodge the next blow. The gold encased his entire torso this time. Barry managed to drop back in time to stop the gold-like substance from covering him from head to toe, but it didn’t do him much good. The gold set nearly instantly and the shock of Lisa’s words had Barry mind running too slow. The hardened substance squeezed around Barry’s ribs, reducing his ability to move and breathe. Though it didn’t hurt half as much as his heart slowly breaking.

Lisa was looming over him in no time, gun poised and ready to deliver the final blow. There was a smirk on her lips and a hardness in her eyes that chilled Barry. He couldn’t move, could barely breathe, and yet his thoughts were of Len. Len’s smile, Len’s lips, how surprisingly soft his skin was, and how warm his eyes made Barry feel. Len was dead. And now Barry was going to die, too, because Lisa Snart was going to kill him.

But then a van squealed to a stop at the end of the road and Cisco was diving out. He was wearing a hoodie to obscure his face and his gauntlets to channel his powers. Cisco sent out a sonic wave Lisa’s way which sent her flying.

“Sorry, Lisa,” Cisco muttered with a wince as her unconscious body rolled across the floor. Barry tried to sit up but it was too difficult and painful to move. He tried to vibrate out of it, but the substance had already set and it wasn’t working. Cisco swore and ran to his side. He offered his help and the combined effort of Barry’s vibrations and Cisco’s vibes managed to crack the gold casing Barry’s ribs.

Cisco helped him into the van before going back for Lisa. Barry watched, panting and out of breath in the passenger seat, feeling numb as he thought over Lisa’s words. He’s dead. She said he was dead. Len was _dead_. And it was Barry’s fault, he didn’t doubt that either. He felt like he was going to throw up: like his world was about to collapse.

“She’s heavier than she looks,” Cisco huffed, half carrying and half dragging Lisa into position. Cisco looked Barry straight in the eye before continuing. “Never let her know I said that,” he warned, completely serious. “I don’t want to die.” Cisco scurried into the van and drove away quickly. He cast Barry a concerned look as Barry remained completely stock-still and silent. “Are you okay, Dude? You’re not going to pass out on me, are you?” Cisco asked, mistaking his silence for physical pain instead of emotional.

_‘You killed my brother_ ’.

“I’m fine,” Barry lied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you’re one of those people who, like me, can only deal with angst when you know it’s going to have a happy ending, I would just like to point your attention towards the ‘temporary character death’ tag. Now, you can take from that what you will. Please leave a comment. I’m going to post the next chapter before Len's return on the Flash airs (if only he was actually going to stay alive this time. I miss my rogue puppy...)
> 
> PS, I actually _do_ have a puppy named Lenny who is named after Captain Cold :)
> 
> PPS, pray for me. I have my final ever university assessment tomorrow and I'm not prepared!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS: Barry experiences some sensory overload in this chapter. You could say that he is experiencing PTSD symptoms but I don’t know if I’ll go further into that during this fic because what I wrote here hadn’t actually been planned.

Cisco pulled the van to a stop right outside of the door so he could carry Lisa directly into STAR Labs and into a cell. They didn’t use the pipeline cells very much anymore, but this was different. Barry hadn’t talked much on the drive, which was worrying… he must be more injured than he looked, but Cisco had to assume that Lisa had been whammied by Bivolo. Or maybe someone else with similar powers?

Either way, they had to revert her back to normal before they could let her go again. They were lucky that she’d directed her anger towards _Barry_ , someone with powers and back up, and not a civilian who wouldn’t have been able to protect themselves quite as well or heal afterwards.

Cisco locked Lisa up in a cell and returned to the cortex where Caitlin was checking over Barry’s injuries. Cisco listened in just long enough to tell that Barry was okay before searching through the room.

“What are you doing?” She asked and Cisco barely lifted his head as he replied to her.

“Trying to find that handheld Rainbow Raider reversal machine for Lisa,” he muttered. Eventually, he turned around. “Have you guys seen it anywhere?” He asked and Barry frowned at him, blinking out of the trance he’d been in for the past few minutes.

“Rainbow Raider?” He asked, emotionlessly, and shook his head. “She wasn’t hit by Bivolo.” Caitlin and Cisco shared a look before turning fully to face him.

“Then what happened?” Caitlin asked slowly and Cisco moved closer to them as he abandoned his search.

“She… erm.” Barry shook his head and crossed his arms, averting his gaze from them to the floor. “She said that… her brother died.”

“Captain Cold?” Cisco asked, shocked, as he tried to remember the last time Barry had faced off against him: it had been _months_ , he realised. But if Cold was dead, then why hadn’t they heard anything about it until now? He was a big player in Central, surely _someone_ would have said something.

“What else did she say?” Caitlin asked and Barry shrugged.

“That it was my fault.” _Ah_ , Barry’s dejected demeanour was starting to make sense. Barry was a good man, he was always ready to blame himself for everything that went wrong.

“How?” Cisco asked and Barry just shook his head.

“She didn’t elaborate.”

Cisco looked at the monitor, seeing Lisa stir in her sleep. She would wake up soon and they would have to go down there to question her and make sure she didn’t have a concussion from being knocked out. He couldn’t help but think that the last time he’d seen Lisa she’d kissed him. That felt like a lifetime ago… a _lot_ had happened in the past seven months.

“If she’s not been affected by a meta,” Caitlin approached slowly, “then maybe we should call Joe to come get her?” she eventually suggested and Cisco shook his head violently before he’d even formed a reason why they should let Lisa stay here. “Why not? She tried to _kill_ Barry,” Caitlin continued and Cisco felt bad for glossing over that titbit. This just proved, once again, that his crush on Golden Glider was completely impractical.

“… Bec _ause_ …”

“Because she didn’t do anything that we wouldn’t have done in her position,” Barry finished for Cisco. “She wanted revenge. I think we’ve all felt that way once or twice these past few years.” Well, Cisco couldn’t fault him there… and neither could Caitlin, it seemed, as she let the subject drop. Barry went back to staring off into space. Cisco was surprised to see Barry looking so broken over Cold’s death. He knew that Cold had been a hero during Flashpoint, but how close had he and Barry _gotten_ there?

Cisco debated asking that when he noticed movement on the screen to his left: Lisa had woken up. Barry noticed too, standing up. He looked lost for words for a moment before shaking his head and leading the way down to the cells, still dressed in the Flash suit even though Cisco was betting the gold-like casing was causing him some discomfort.

Lisa was standing tall in the cell as they moved closer. She looked completely confident and in control, despite the prison she was currently locked away in.

“ _Flash_ ,” she greeted, venom dripping from her voice. Her eyes stayed trained on Barry and didn’t even flicker to Caitlin or Cisco for a moment.

“Lisa,” Barry returned. He didn’t sound like his normal self, his voice strained… maybe he was in pain still? Barry seemed to be waiting for Lisa to say something, but she only titled her head higher in defiance. Eventually, Barry broke. “What happened to Len?” He asked.

Cisco was standing a couple of paces behind and so he couldn’t get a look at Barry’s face, but he sounded saddened. Lisa didn’t reply for a long moment, her gaze seeming to size Barry up. Eventually her eyes flickered to Cisco and Caitlin, but there was nothing but ice in that look.

“You happened. You _killed_ him,” she eventually said, her words sharp. Barry took a step forward and Lisa clenched her fist like she was ready break out of that cell and start throwing punches.

“I don’t understand,” Barry pleaded. “ _How_?” Lisa surged forward and threw both hands against the glass with a loud thud, resting there and glaring Barry down.

“By turning him into your own little _lapdog_ ,” she snarled. She took a deep breath and pulled back, turning away from them for a moment. When she turned back around, Lisa looked cold and emotionless once more. “Why couldn’t you have just left him alone?” She bit. “We may have been criminals but as least Lenny was still alive. He was fine before _you_ came along with all this hero talk. You couldn’t just let him be? You had to try to make him like you,” Lisa sneered into Barry’s face. “You got into Lenny’s head, and because of that he’s dead.”

“Len… I…” Barry spluttered and Lisa’s jaw tensed.

“I’m done talking to you. Now, let me go or leave me alone,” she demanded. Barry’s mouth snapped shut with an audible noise and he quietly agreed. He turned to leave and Caitlin followed him, but Cisco hung back for a moment.

“Lisa…” He wasn’t sure what he planned to say. He didn’t know what he possibly _could_ say.

“Leave me, Cisco,” she snapped (though maybe not quite as viscously as she had done with Barry) and Cisco nodded, backing away.

[] [] []

Barry felt _cold_.

He sat on Joe’s couch and picked at a spare thread on his STAR Labs sweater as he tried not to think about Len or Lisa. But he couldn’t help it. He felt nauseous as her words rolled around and around in his mind.

‘ _You got into Lenny’s head, and because of that he’s dead_.’

Barry snapped the thread; it did nothing to relieve the pain in his heart. Everything felt too much: the feeling of clothes against his skin, the sound of children shouting and playing outside the house, the too bright sun shining into the window, the taste of bile at the back of his throat. It all made him tense and angry. It was too much, _too much_!

Barry stood up suddenly, barely managing to stop himself from picking up Joe’s coffee table and throwing it through the window. Barry quickly closed the curtains and dropped back onto the sofa face first. He screwed his eyes closed, covered his ears, and tried to focus solely on his breathing to offset the sensory overload that he was experiencing.

He used to feel this way a lot when he was a kid, right after his mother died and father was arrested: the stress and loss and sorrow was just too much for his mind to process sometimes. And after everything that happened to Barry the past few days, he was surprised that he hadn’t started to crack sooner.

Barry lay face down on the sofa for a long time before he let his arms relax and noise filter back in to his ears. After a few seconds of that, he shifted and opened his eyes once more. Barry rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

Lisa had been unapologetic and _seething_ when she woke up inside the pipeline cell. Barry was still wearing his damaged Flash suit (and wasn’t it telling about Barry’s current appearance that Cisco didn’t make a single remark when they’d had to cut Barry out of said suit) at that point and the metal encasing his chest had hurt, but he’d powered through the pain to hear what she had to say.

‘ _He was fine before_ you _came along_.’

Barry sat up and moved into the kitchen. He quickly splashed some cold water on his face and closed his eyes again. The ground under his feet felt like it was moving, the world spinning, and Barry felt unstable and like he was going to throw up. He took a few more deep breaths and put all of his weight into leaning against the counter.

Barry didn’t know how Len died and maybe he didn’t _want_ to know. He didn’t want to find out how he’d killed the man he’d…

He’d…

Maybe this was a sign from the universe that he was supposed to be with Iris. Barry tried to tell himself that, anyway. Except… it didn’t feel right. This wasn’t any sign that he could have wanted. And through the loss of Len in that moment, Barry realised something: he _did_ love Len. He’d been on his way to figuring that out before, it had been rattling around in the back of his brain ever since his last conversation with Len during Flashpoint, but now Barry knew; if he’d been able to follow his heart, then he would have led him to Len.

Barry loved Iris too. Of course he did: she was his first love and he knew he would always love her… but, at this moment in time, he wasn’t _in love_ with her.

And he had to tell her that. He had to tell her _everything_. It wasn’t fair to keep her in the dark anymore now that his heart had chosen Len. Not that he could _be_ with Len… but Iris deserved to know that Barry was much further than she thought from being in the right place to date her. For all she knew, he was only putting off their relationship as he mourned his dad’s passing. She assumed that they would be together soon.

But Barry wasn’t ready to be with her now and wouldn’t be ready for a long time. Maybe one day he and Iris would be right for each other, but that day was not now. He couldn’t expect her to wait for him that long, especially without a reason _why_. Barry ran to Iris’ apartment. To _Eddie’s_ apartment. The place that she had yet to redecorate or think of leaving since his death…

Maybe Iris wasn’t as ready to move on as she thought she was? Or maybe that was just Barry’s vein hope because he _really_ didn’t want her to be hurt over this… Barry didn’t want to lose his best friend. He took a deep, steadying, breath as he knocked on the door. Iris answered with a warm smile.

“Barry,” she greeted and let him into her place. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“Yeah… I… I have something I need to tell you.” Barry started. This was so complicated... “I need to tell you why I’ve been acting so off this past few days.”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me, Barry,” Iris said as she placed her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. “After what Zoom did to your father last week…”

“That’s not it.” Barry shook his head. “I mean, that _is_ it. But, there’s more to it than that.” Iris led Barry to her sofa and waited patiently as he ordered his thoughts. “To me, my dad’s death was nearly three months ago.” He held up his hand once Iris opened her mouth to stop her from talking. “Just… please, let me get through this? It’s a long story.” Iris closed her mouth again and nodded so Barry gave a weak smile before he continued. “After we kissed, I went back in time. You see, I… I was broken. And the only way I could think to fix myself was to save my Mum.

“And I did. I created another timeline where Wells never killed her; where both of my parents were alive and happy and it was everything I’ve ever wanted since I was eleven years old.” Barry paused as Iris’ hand wrapped firmly around his own. “Nearly everything, anyway. The only thing it was missing was… you. You were married there; and with a daughter, too.

“I thought that there was truly no hope for us anymore and that I’d missed my chance and so… I started dating someone else.” Barry felt Iris tense next to him, not looking at her face. He still felt so cold, more like he was just regurgitating facts: a story that wasn’t his own. He swallowed thickly. “I fell in love.”

He dropped her hand and stood up before she could recoil from him. Barry began pacing and Iris remained silent.

“There was a lot wrong with that timeline, though; apocalyptic kind of bad. I had to reset it…” Barry took a deep breath to take the waver from his voice. “When I came back here, I wasn’t sure what I wanted. But, now…” Barry shook his head. “I’m sorry, Iris.”

He finally looked up and there was water in her eyes. She chewed on her bottom lip and nodded slowly.

“You have nothing to apologise for, Barry,” she said softly. “You can’t help who you fall in love with.” Barry felt tears in his own eyes now. This was the right decision… right? Yes, of course it was. Even though Len was gone, Barry’s feelings remained. He couldn’t just pretend like they didn’t exist. Iris dabbed her eyes and put on a smile. “So, who is she? Or… he?”

“He,” Barry confirmed. “And he was a good man… a _hero_ , even.” He shook his head and averted his gaze once more. “I just found out that he’s dead here.” Barry’s voice was coarse to his own ears. He cleared his throat and wondered whether or not to give Iris Len’s name.

“Oh, Barry,” she consoled before he could decide, standing up and embracing him. Barry fell into the hug, screwing his eyes closed tightly to stop the tears from falling and ruining Iris’ blouse. It felt nice to be held, but Iris’ arms weren’t the ones he wanted to be in. He yearned for Len. For the way he would place one of his palms flat against Barry’s mid-back, the way the slight coarseness of his jaw would rub against Barry’s cheek, for the way he smelt like sea salt and a winter morning.

‘ _We may have been criminals but as least Lenny was still alive._ ’

“I should go back home,” Barry announced suddenly, pulling away and blinking out of his own head. He bet he looked a mess. Iris offered her spare bedroom to him so that he could stay if he didn’t feel like being alone (which he would be if he went back home because Joe had been working late the past few nights), but Barry declined.

She kissed his forehead and offered him a sad smile before he zipped out of her apartment.

[] [] []

Barry spent the next couple of days in an almost fugue state as he mourned Len and his parents. He’d extended his bereavement leave and chose to not even spend much time as the Flash. The city would just have to look after itself for a little while…

He tried to get some more information off Lisa about Len’s death, but she stayed true to her word and barely uttered another word to him. Cisco was the only one of them who she was willing to talk to, and she wouldn’t even tell _him_ the details. After a while, Barry gave up asking. Did he really want to know how the man he loved died? At least this way he could imagine that it was peaceful…

Around lunch time, six days after Barry had returned from the Flashpoint timeline, he received a text from Cisco. All it said was ‘ _Lisa’s gone_ ’. Barry sped directly over to STAR Labs, coming to a stop directly outside the cell where they had been keeping Lisa in the pipeline. The glass was shattered on the ground, Cisco standing by the door with a Big Belly Burger bag in one hand and his phone in the other.

“What happened?” Barry demanded after taking in the scene.

“I don’t know, Dude. I swear,” Cisco answered quickly. “I was just coming down here to give her lunch. When I saw this, I texted you right away.” Barry didn’t realise that his voice had come across so insinuating. Of course he hadn’t meant to suggest that Cisco let her out of here. “She couldn’t have been gone for long, I saw her on the monitor just a half an hour ago!”

Barry nodded and carried Cisco back to the cortex. Cisco dropped the take-out bag on his desk and leaned over to bring up the CCTV of the pipeline and…

And it showed Lisa sitting in her cell, reading.

Cisco stood up straight and Barry blinked at the monitor, both of them frowning. Cisco double checked the camera number to show that it was, in fact, streaming from the camera in Lisa’s cell. It was a match. So how the hell did this video say that Lisa was still safe and sound inside the cell when Barry and Cisco both knew otherwise?

“It’s playing pre-recorded looped footage,” Cisco said, and Barry nodded having just arrived at the same conclusion.

“In other words,” Barry muttered. “We have no way of finding out how long she’d been gone for, nor how she managed to shatter the supposedly impenetrable glass in her cell?” Barry asked, already knowing the answer. Cisco shook his head anyway.

Barry sighed and returned to the pipeline. He wasn’t exactly _mad_ that Lisa had gotten out. But the _how_ of it was a mystery. No one had ever gotten out of these things without someone letting them out… Barry had to know how she’d done it. He realised the answer fairly quickly as he inspected the room: she _had_ been let out.

He hadn’t been paying enough attention to the pattern that the glass had fallen in before. Now that Barry was looking, he could tell that the glass had been broken from the _outside_ , sending the shards _into_ the cell. But who? Who was good enough to break into STAR Labs and break Lisa out, completely undetected?

Barry crouched down to inspect the glass more. He didn’t bother with gloves as he wiped his finger against the floor and it came back wet. Why was there water on the floor? And the glass itself was… cold. _Ice_ cold. Barry’s heart skipped a beat.

Len.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you to pay attention to the ‘ _temporary character death_ ’ tag.  
> Side note: I don’t normally post anything after 9pm, but I had difficulty writing this chapter because angry!Lisa is actually very difficult to write and I wanted to post this before the new episode airs in America. Can’t wait to watch Barry and Len actually interact when I wake up tomorrow! :D
> 
> PS. I’m not sure whether to go down the goldenvibe route or not for this fic. Thoughts? Shall I get Cisco and Lisa together as a background relationship, or should I focus solely on coldflash?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn’t planning on posting again so soon but I was just so happy after the last Flash episode (someone shoot me, I’ll die happy after all of that coldflash!) and it got me excited to share some more of this fic!

Barry stared at the glass on the floor and slowly stood up. He didn’t want to hope, but this was Len’s doing. It _had_ to have been. Except… if Len is alive after all, then why did Lisa think he was dead? It could have been Mark Mardon or someone else with cold-like abilities who broke Lisa out, Barry told himself. But his heart wouldn’t listen as it began beating overtime in his chest.

Barry looked quickly for any more clues but found nothing. He returned to Cisco in the cortex and passed on his theory.

“You think Cold’s actually alive?” Cisco asked with a frown. “Why would Lisa lie about that?” Barry shrugged a little.

“Maybe she really thought he was dead.”

“That… that doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know,” Barry sighed. “But it could still be possible. Can you check for his cold gun signature?” He asked and Cisco shrugged before pulling up the right software. He typed quickly on his keypad and then paused, frowning.

“Huh.”

“Is that a good ‘ _huh’_ , or a bad ‘ _huh’_?” Barry asked and Cisco typed some more. Barry moved closer to peer over his shoulder at the screen.

“It’s… a huh,” Cisco muttered. He stopped again and then swivelled his chair around to look at Barry. “There’s something here, but… the signal doesn’t match that of the cold gun,” Cisco said and Barry’s heart fell to the floor via his stomach. “At least, not the cold gun that _I_ made.” Barry thought about that, took a deep breath and nodded.

“Meaning?”

“It’s… similar. There is a definite cold signature in the atmosphere, but I’m not really sure _what_ cause it: it could be a meta, maybe, or maybe a new piece of tech that we haven’t come across yet.” Cisco chewed at the inside of his cheek for a moment before nodding. “I suppose it also could have been caused by the cold gun, if Cold had been making home modifications.”

Cisco didn’t look happy at that idea, but Barry did. Len had told him at Christmas that he’d made a modification to the cold gun, so it was possible that he’d made a few more! It was possible that Len was alive and that possibility was all that Barry needed right now.

“It was Snart,” Barry said, a little more confidently than he felt. No one else would have reason to break Lisa out, nor the ability to do it so flawlessly.

[ _One week earlier_ ]

_Leonard Snart was trapped._

_Something had happened when the oculus blew, trapping him in a vortex of time. He saw everything. Everything that was happening, that had_ already _happened, that would happen, that_ could _happen. He couldn’t say how long he was trapped there, just waiting and watching. The past and the present seemed to not exist here. And there was no way out._

 _But Len didn’t give up or let himself become dismayed. And, soon, there was a crack. A crack of bright white light in time itself. But it was getting smaller and smaller. Len couldn’t let it close, he couldn’t let himself be stranded here for eternity. He didn’t know where it would take him, but it_ had _to be better than here! Len reached out, slipping through the crack before it sealed behind him._

 _The brightness overwhelmed him, white noise screeching in his ears. He tried to close his eyes, cover his ears, flinch away. But he couldn’t. It wasn’t just_ around _him, it was_ in _him. The noise got louder and louder, the brightness burning at his eyes and skin._

_And then the noise quietened and Len took a deep and shaken breath. He slowly blinked his eyes open, though it was difficult as though he had been asleep for a very long time, and stared up at the sun above him. The noise of birds chirping and water moving filtered into his ears as Len lay on his back staring up at the peaceful morning sky. Feeling the grass underneath him, Len sat up and looked around._

_He instantly recognised the clearing he was sat in: it was the same place where Len had first stepped foot on the Waverider. Here, in this clearing, was where he had left 2016 with the rest of the Legends. Len took a deep breath and stood up. It looked exactly the same as the last time he’d been here. Was he in his own time? Len hoped so._

_The streets were busy with adults heading to work and children scurrying to school. No one paid much attention to Len as he walked by, dressed in the leather jacket he’d woken up in as opposed to his Cold uniform. He felt uneasy without a weapon at his side, but he remembered leaving his cold gun with Mick back at the Vanishing Point. He’d have to make another once he got his bearings._

_Len easily swiped a newspaper from the stand as he walked by. He checked the date: May 25 th 2016._

[] [] []

 _A few days passed and Len was tired. He was tired and cold and_ bored _. He sat in a booth in Saints and Sinners and nursed a glass of top shelf whiskey while wearing a thick winter coat, despite the summer heat, with the hood pulled over his head in a clear dismissal for the rest of the room._

 _He could hear people talking about him, always vigilant of his surroundings even when he’d much rather be oblivious. They were wondering who he was and why he’d been sitting in a bar for the past four days, hiding his face from the room. Len sipped his drink and attempted to ignore them. Len had_ far _too much to consider since his all-too-recent death, and resurrection, to pay much attention to what a bunch of drunks thought of him. But it was hard-wired into him to pay attention when he was being talked about… the more he knew, the better his chances of survival. And if Leonard Snart was anything, he was a survivor._

_There was only one thing, at this point, that could distract Len’s attention away from the two sneering patrons at the bar. And that was Lisa._

_Which was why, when he heard the words ‘Golden Glider’ on the TV, he snapped to attention. Len tuned out all of the noise in the bar and focussed solely on the news reporter. Apparently, Lise had tried to take on the Flash last night only to be defeated by an unidentified metahuman superhero._ Interesting _… Len would have to do some recon on this new guy ready for when he would finally be ready to return to his ‘job’ as a master thief._

 _Len listened closely but the reporter gave no indication to where Lisa had ended up._ Had she been arrested _? There was, however, a video. It was found footage taken on a low-quality phone camera and it showed Lisa attacking Barry._

 _Len sat up a little straighter as he watched. Len knew how his sister fought,_ hell _he’d taught her most of what she knew, so he knew when she was playing it up for the audience and when she was actually fighting. And in this video Lisa didn’t appear to be pulling any punches, seemingly hell-bent on killing the Flash._

_The video cut out and the news report came to an end so Len stood up abruptly and left the bar. He had to help his sister. First things first, find out where she ended up. He would break her out now and worry about her apparent anger towards the Flash later._

_Len dived right into the task at hand, reading all the reports he could find on Golden Glider over the past day. None of them had any additional information to that of the news report. He called in a favour with Rathaway and got a log of all the arrests made last night: Lisa’s name wasn’t there, neither were any of her aliases._

_Leonard frowned at the screen: the reports had all definitely stated that she was knocked unconscious by a man in a hoodie and then whisked away. With how she’d been fighting, Team Flash would have been insane to let her go… but she hadn’t been arrested. So, unless she had somehow broken free, all signs pointed to the secret pipeline in STAR Labs._

_Which meant minimal security and easy access. This would be a piece of cake._

_It had been 24 hours now since Lisa’s fight with the Flash. It had taken him only a couple of hours to confirm that she wasn’t in police custody, he spent the next two hours confirming that she_ was _in STAR Labs… they really needed to update their security if even_ Len _could hack their camera feed. He’d never been much of a hacker._

_He’d break in tomorrow. Usually he would prefer to do his work at night, but STAR Labs at night held more of an uncertainty than something like a jewellery store did. He had no idea when Barry would run in or out during his patrols of the city, hyped up on adrenaline and ready for a fight. At least their comings and goings followed more of a schedule during the day._

_Len came up with a quick and simple plan. The next morning he mapped out a quick route for him to get to and from the cell. He hacked the cameras again and recorded about twenty minutes worth of video in Lisa’s cell as well as the halls he would be walking through, making sure it fitted together smoothly without any jumps to indicate a looped video._

_He waited until just after Dr Snow left the building for a doctor's appointment, leaving only Cisco for him to dodge, before he stopped the cameras from recording and uploaded his looped video onto the STAR Labs monitors. He quickly passed through the halls and towards Lisa’s cell, stopping in front of it._

_Lisa wasn’t facing out of her cell, but she knew someone was here. Len waited for her to turn to face him, but she never did. She must have assumed that he was Cisco. Len waited a little longer before giving in and making the first move._

_“You’re losing your touch, Lise,” he drawled. Lisa turned to stare at him quickly, dropping her book to the ground as she jumped to the floor._

_“Lenny?” She asked and Len stepped forward into the light. “What the hell? Mick said you were dead!” She shouted and Len nodded as the pieces started falling into place. If Mick had told her_ how _Len’d died then he could see Lisa getting angry enough to confront the Flash about it. “If this was all just some trick, then I am_ not _impressed,” she snapped and Len shook his head._

_“Not a trick,” he replied and swiftly moved towards her glass cell. “I’ll fill you in once I get you out of here.” She nodded and stepped back, her eyes finally taking him in fully._

_“You don’t have your gun,” she commented and Len shook his head._

_“I don’t need it anymore,” he smirked. Before she could ask, Len lifted his hand to the glass and brushed his fingers against it. He stopped holding back the cold he felt inside and allowed it to seep out of him, channelling it through his hands. The glass under his fingers froze and cracked instantly. Len wasn’t sure_ how _exactly the oculus explosion had given him cryokinetic powers, but it sure did come in handy. He removed his hand and elbowed the glass, watching it shatter easily._

_When he looked up from his handiwork, Lisa was standing there with her mouth agape. Len smirked: it was difficult to catch his sister off guard._

_“The cold never bothered me anyway,” he drawled, enticing a laugh from her._

_“You’re such a dork,” she muttered, shaking her head._

_“Train wreck,” he replied easily. The glass crunched under Lisa’s shoes as she stepped over it, Len offering her a hand to keep her steady on the icy surface. He’d always told her that heals were inappropriate for their line of work, but she’d never listened._

_“Are you going to tell me how you suddenly have powers, or…?” She asked as they made their way out of STAR Labs. Len pursed his lips as he thought it over. Discovering them had been a shock, to say the least. After he’d woken up in the clearing, Len had just progressively began to feel more and more cold. Eventually it got to the point where his body couldn’t contain it anymore and it just started seeping out of him._

_He ended up accidently freezing over half of his favourite safe house because of it. With a little effort, he’d figured out a way to keep the cold inside, as best as he could anyway… he was still learning. Which was why he’d kept to himself for the last week._

_“Later,” Len settled on as he held the door open for his sister and they left the building._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez, I feel awful! I posted the first chapter of this fic about a week or so before season 3 aired and now it's been two weeks since the season finale and I’m only just posting chapter 11! I'm supposed to be better than this, dammit. But I promise to keep up with the regular updates for this and my other WIP coldflash fics (I'm currently trying to update them all at least once every two weeks).

It didn’t take long for Cisco to isolate the new cold signature and adjust his software to search for it all over Central City. The Lab was so far the only location that showed up, but that was okay: Len would use the cold gun again soon and, now that they had his new cold signature, Barry would be able to find him.

Barry swallowed thickly, his stomach twisting into knots. He was going to see Len again. They were going to be in the same room as each other, talking to one another. He’d see Len’s smile again… hopefully. Barry still couldn’t actually be sure that Len wanted to be with him in this timeline. What if that was something exclusive to the Flashpoint timeline? What if they had been through too much in this timeline for Len to ever consider dating Barry? What if they’d missed their chance here?

Barry didn’t know how Len felt about him, he didn’t know whether they would ever be together, but he was eager to find out. His emotions were a mess of anticipation and worry as Barry thought about seeing Len again. He had to go for a run.

He was gone for a little over an hour and when he got back to the labs, Cait had arrived back from her doctor’s appointment and Cisco was filling her in on what had happened while she was gone. If he wasn’t so worried about Len not reciprocating his feelings, Barry would be grinning right about now. It was probably for the better that he _wasn’t_ though – he didn’t want to make his friends suspicious about _why_ he was so happy for Leonard Snart, world renowned thief, was alive. And as much as he wanted to see Len and be with Len, he was still uncertain how to bring up his feelings to his friends. How would they react knowing that Barry was in love with a man who had kidnapped them both on two separate occasions?

“But, er, Barry?” Cisco said after promising to text him once the cold signature was next registered by his software but before Barry could leave the lab again. “Be careful. I know that we’re going on the assumption that it’s _Cold_ who broke Lisa out, but in case it wasn’t you should keep an eye out for her,” Cisco warned. “She told me that if she ever got out of those cells, and I’m quoting here, that she would ‘ _track down the Flash and take from him what he took from her brother_ ’.”

Barry paused. He knew that it had been Len, it _had_ to have been Len, and so he wasn’t worried of Lisa making good on that threat. Still, he nodded his head and promised his friends that he’d been cautious.

A few days passed without any sign of the cold signature again and Barry felt his confidence waning as he waited and _waited_ for news on Len or Lisa. Soon his bereavement leave was over and he had to go back to the CCPD. Work was fun at first, an interesting shift around from working as a crime writer during Flashpoint: going to a crime scene and getting absorbed in the case. But then he was soon back at the station and running tests… waiting for the results was, well, _boring_. And lonely, too.

He’d never minded having his own lab before, having his own space, he found comfort in his solitude from prying eyes and meaningless conversations. But after three months working in an open plan office area, something he had never actually done before as he went directly from university into this career, he’d gotten accustomed to the constant buzz of co-workers. His lab felt too cold and too quiet now. How was he expected to go from that back to… _this_?

Barry ended up putting the radio on while he was working, just to flush out the silence. But, even still, the sound of his phone getting a text made Barry jump out of his skin. He picked it up and glanced over it.

From: **_Cisco_**  
Received: **_3:56pm_**  
**Got a ping on the cold signature. Cold’s at 258 Cedar Street**

Barry’s heart was suddenly in his throat as he read the text. He sent off a quick thank you, but suddenly felt too weak to stand up. And so he stayed seated at his desk in his empty laboratory. Something about this moment felt electrified, like it was important, a turning point.

Barry couldn’t helping but feel as though choosing to go to Len now would change his own path forever. It was stupid, but it wasn’t. Whether or not he went to Len now could impact nearly every part of his life: his job with the CCPD, his work as the Flash, his relationship with his friends and family… it could all change from just this one decision.

Barry reminded himself that it wasn’t too late to change his mind: he could go to Iris instead. That thought left him feeling both relieved and uneasy. Iris was safe, she was the kind of person that people _expected_ Barry to love. Whereas Len was… Len. Leonard Snart. _Captain Cold_. He was the kind of man that people expected Barry to _hate_. At least he was on the outside.

But Barry couldn’t live his life doing only what was expected of him, he couldn’t just play it safe when it came to love, and he couldn’t second guess himself now. Barry had to follow his heart. As Barry stood up, legs still a little weak underneath him, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was making the wrong decision. But things like this were never so black and white. Like a leap of faith, he had to just go for it and hope for the best.

So, Barry left work and followed his heart to Cedar Street, to _Len_.

He took a quick detour to STAR Labs on the way to pick up his Flash suit before he arrived at the old mill beside Central’s river. Cedar Street was in the warehouse district and was once a big place of industry in Central City. Over the years, the warehouses and factories closed and the surrounding neighbourhoods became more rundown. The perfect place, really, for a criminal to hide out.

Barry looked up at the old mill. Len was in there. Or, he had been in there. Maybe Barry had lingered too long after receiving the text and Len had already left? But, no, that was a motorbike parked out front. Len’s motorbike? Barry wasn’t certain. Barry steeled himself and ran inside. The lights were on at the back of the mill, noise drifting in from the large room… not to mention the chill emanating from it, and so Barry quickly canvased the rest of the building to make sure he wasn’t in for any surprises (just like Ollie had taught him years ago) before heading towards the noise.

Leonard Snart was alone in the room, a large room that was covered in ice and damage. He was standing stiff, facing away from Barry with his head slightly tilted downwards. He knew Barry was there. Len straightened up but didn’t turn around.

“Barry,” he called, looking ahead at a wall of ice in front of him as though admiring it. And Barry would _have_ to find out how he did that… how did he always know he was there? Barry wondered if Len ever got it wrong, thinking Barry was around when he wasn’t, and ended up talking to an empty room… that thought was enough to make him huff out a soft laugh. “Nice of you to drop by.”

The familiar lilt to Len’s words was comforting, though Barry now recognised it as a persona: his drawl, his dramatics, his smirk, they were just a role that he fell into whenever he needed to. Barry had met the real Len now, he wasn’t all that much different. Except… he _was_. Barry was excited to break down the metaphorical walls between them once more.

“Target practice?” He asked, looking around the factory floor at the ice. It was even on the ceiling! How had Len’s gun even _reached_ all the way up there? Len had finally turned to regard Barry by the time that Barry had finished inspecting Len’s handiwork.

“Something like that.” He smirked. His face was tight, but at least he wasn’t aiming the cold gun at Barry. Actually… he wasn’t even holding the cold gun. Barry pulled down his cowl and did a quick surveillance of Len and of the room, but he couldn’t see the cold gun anywhere. Len must have hidden it away when Barry showed up. But why? “If you’re here about my sister,” Len drawled when Barry didn’t speak up again. “Know that she’s _appropriately_ sorry and promises to be on her _best_ behaviour from now on.”

“And what exactly does your version of ‘best behaviour’ equal?” Barry asked, though he wasn’t actually worried. “Because, for some reason, I think we have different definitions.” Len shrugged dramatically, raising an eyebrow at the same time.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.”

Barry was a little surprised by how easily he fell back into this: swapping harmless, maybe even _playful_ , jibes at one another. Captain Cold _should_ make Barry scared. But this dynamic they shared… it was fun, it always had been. Barry realised that he’d actually _missed_ this. Sure, working with Len during Flashpoint had been fun too… but in a different way. It had been over eight months for Barry since the last time that he and Len had done this. Barry realised that he was grinning but didn’t even attempt to stem the excitement and happiness he felt.

“I’m not here about Lisa,” Barry eventually said, walking forward. Len hummed, his eyes scanning Barry.

“Are you never going to get tired of being turned down, Barry?” Len asked and Barry froze mid-step, his heart hammering in his aching chest. But Len just carried on speaking, leaning back with his hands anchored against a table behind him and crossing his feet. “How many times have you made this pitch now? Eventually, you’re just going to have to accept that I’m not hero material.”

Barry could breathe again now. Len wasn’t turning down the idea of _them_ , he was turning down the idea of being a hero. Barry shook his head as Len spoke, ready to dive right in and let him know the _true_ reason that he was there. But Len’s words scratched at the all too recent memory of _Citizen_ Cold.

“There’s good in you, Len,” Barry maintained and Len crooked an eyebrow at Barry’s choice of name, but ultimately chose to ignore it. “You don't have to steal anymore.”

“And what if I _want_ to steal, Barry?”

“You could be so much more than just a thief.”

“I'm not _just_ a thief, I'm a _great_ thief.” Len smirked

“You could be a hero,” Barry insisted as he stepped closer, now only a few feet of distance between them.

“Tried that already, thanks, it didn’t exactly work out.” Barry frowned at that. What did Len mean by it? Before he could ask, though, Len was standing up straight and moving forward to bridge the distance between them. He moved with slow and precise movements. He was standing so close to Barry now, his eyes so blue and almost looking as though they were glowing as the light reflected off the ice around the room. For a second, Barry forgot to breathe.

Len’s eyes were narrowed as they flitted over Barry’s face, looking for answers. Barry felt drawn closer, resisting the urge to reach out and touch Len. Not in a sexual way, just to brush his fingers against Len’s shoulder or to hold his hand. To hug him and bury his nose into the crook of Len’s neck. Though, if Len was up for it, Barry certainly wouldn’t mind re-learning the weight of Len’s dick on his tongue. Barry’s heart rate picked up some more at the memory, blushing. Len cocked an eyebrow and Barry felt his suit tighten.

“Why are you so insistent on this, Barry?” Len implored, _whispered_ in an enticing and almost intimate voice that did nothing to help Barry’s situation. He couldn’t help it as his eyes flickered to Len’s lips. And Len tracked the movement, smirking devilishly.

Barry’s heart was beating out of his chest by this point. He was frozen in indecision, wanting to lean forward to capture Len’s lips in his own but also not sure if Len would allow it. It was only after Len moved away that Barry realised he should have just gone for it and kissed him. But now the moment had passed and Len manoeuvred around Barry, making for the exit.

“You're leaving?” Barry asked, feeling a sense of hurt. Len hadn’t rejected him, not really, but he also hadn’t made a move. Barry was left even more confused now about where they stood.

“I got things to do, Kid,” Len said, pausing briefly at the exit but not turning back around to face Barry.

“Things to steal?” Barry corrected and Len shrugged, probably smirking though Barry couldn't be sure of it.

“Undoubtedly.”

[] [] []

Len hadn't actually stolen anything that night. Or, at least, nothing that Barry had heard about. And between his job at the CCPD and his work as the Flash, Barry heard about most reported crimes.

Reflecting back on it, yesterday had actually gone a little better than expected. He may not have managed to actually get to the asking Len out part of the plan, but Barry’s feelings had been fairly obvious. Len knew that he was interested now and Barry would just have to find Len again to finally ask him out.

As Barry sat at work, working late today to make up for leaving early yesterday, he wondered what Len was doing right now. Would he be thinking about Barry? _God_ , Barry was starting to feel like a teenage girl with a crush. This was ridiculous.

After work, nine _long_ hours of barely being able to take his mind off of Len, Barry went back to STAR Labs. The cortex was empty when he arrived, Cisco and Cait off in another part of the building, and Barry couldn’t help but feel relieved at that.

He didn’t really want to raise their suspicions by asking for Len’s location again. Barry quickly loaded the programme, not actually expecting any results but thinking he could set up a notification alert to his own phone. After how long it had taken to find Len before, Barry was surprised to find that the cold gun had been used only twenty minutes ago at a location downtown.

Saints and Sinners.

Barry felt like smacking himself on the forehead: why had he not thought of checking that place sooner? Len owned it, of course he would be there occasionally. Barry couldn’t help but think that a lot of this headache would have been avoided if he’d just shown up there when he first started searching for Len.

He quickly shut down the programme and sped out of the lab, happy to find that Len was still at the bar when he arrived. Len’s eyes snapped to Barry as he walked over, dodging around other patrons. Len finished off some fries before Barry sat down opposite him. Barry couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time he’d sat across from Len in this bar. He hoped today would go better than that night had.

“Two visits in two days,” Len drawled. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” His eyes were sharp and beautiful and, _God_ , Barry’s heart was racing in his chest again. He sat forward and interlocked his fingers on the table to buy himself a little time to think before he spoke.

Barry wasn’t used to being the _forward_ one. He’d never been that great at asking people out, really, which is why most of his relationships started with someone asking _him_ out. The few times that he’d tried had been, well, a disaster. But Barry was determined to change that today.

“Spit it out, Kid, I haven’t got all day.”

“Maybe I just wanted a chat?”

“A chat, Barry?” Len drawled. “With a wanted criminal? I didn’t know you were yearning to spend your time with the villains of Central City.”

“You’re a good man,” Barry rebutted again, shaking his head.

“You can say that all you like, doesn’t make it true,” Len dismissed with a wave of his hand, looking away from Barry out to the busy bar.

It was only really then that Barry noticed Len was wearing multiple layers. In _summer_. That was strange in itself, more so when Barry remembered what Len had told him in the Flashpoint timeline: he always felt too warm because of damaged thermoreceptors in his hypothalamus. And yet here he was sitting in a sweater, a seemingly thick hooded jacket, and a coat. Barry was about to ask about it when Len’s eyes landed back on him.

“For someone here to chat, you don’t seem all that… _chatty_ ,” Len mentioned and picked up his beer, condensation running down the side and leaving a ring of water on the table as Len took a sip. Barry wished that he’d ordered himself a beer too so that his hands had something to do. Biting the bullet, Barry straightened his shoulders and just decided to go for it.

“We should… I mean, do you want to get dinner with me?” Barry asked and Len’s eyes flickered down to his empty plate, still on the table, before finding Barry again. Barry blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I mean, not right now. Because you just ate, and that would be stupid, obviously. But… another time, maybe?” God, Barry was terrible at this!

“As in a date, Barry?” Len asked, his eyes narrowed and his voice maintaining its drawl. Barry nodded his head. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before making a quick decision. He grabbed Len’s napkin, and the mini sharpie that he kept in his pocket during work, quickly scribbling on it.

“Here’s my number,” Barry said as he slid the napkin back across the table towards Len, who looked apprehensive but not repelled… so that was good, at least. Barry nodded to himself and stood up. “Now, I’m going to go before you stick me with the bill for your food in your own bar again.” Barry laughed nervously and Len quirked an eyebrow.

“My bar?” He asked, sitting up a little straighter. “Where did you hear that?” Barry blanked. Was no one supposed to know that Len owned this place? Maybe he kept it close to his chest for some reason?

“Just… around,” Barry muttered. He hesitated for a moment before taking a step away from the table. “Call me,” he said, his eyes purposefully flicking to the napkin on the table, before finally turning around and leaving the bar.

Well that could have gone worse, he supposed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... do you think Len will call him?  
> Also, sorry that Barry is maybe a little OOC here. The occasion called for a more forward Barry than we're used to, but I tried to still draw on his clumsiness.
> 
> PS. I'm doing a few edits on Lightning Hot at the moment (nothing major, just reading over and correcting errors). Once that's done, I'll finish writing the next chapter for its sequel. Hopefully I can post it this weekend :)


End file.
